Welcome from the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean.

Welcome to the Faculty of Science at Victoria - Te Wāhanga Pūtaiao.

Science is fascinating, and scientists are some of the most creative and inspirational people I have ever met. Drawing on their natural curiosity, scientists investigate the world around them and use this knowledge to enhance our quality of life and shape our future world. There has probably never been a greater need in society for scientifically trained people than in the 21st century.

By enrolling in the Faculty of Science at Victoria, you too are taking the opportunity to study science and to train to be a scientist.

David Bibby in front of the new Alan MacDiarmid building, due for completion in April 2010.

Science is taught within five Schools in the Faculty, and covers disciplines as diverse as psychology, mathematics, development studies, marine biology and chemistry. Our new BSc degree programme is designed to give you a wider choice of subjects and allow you to combine a science major with a second major subject, either from the Faculty of Science or from another faculty. Credit can also be given for research placements and science community activities.

As a Victoria University student, you have access to academic staff who are both great teachers and leaders of internationally recognised research programmes. Our staff members encourage students to do as well as they possibly can at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and many of our students are actively involved in the Schools’ research programmes.

The equity initiatives that we have in place through our Āwhina Programme, create a good environment for study, provide peer support and mentoring, and help make our students some of the most successful in the country. This programme particularly offers support for students of Māori and Pacific descent.

Wellington is fortunate to have the highest concentration of scientific research organisations in New Zealand - The Malaghan Institute for Medical Research, and Crown Research Institutes that include GNS Science, Industrial Research Ltd, ESR and NIWA . These organisations all have close links with Victoria University and contribute to our education and research programmes.

The Science Faculty has a strong international component, with students here from over 30 countries. Over the past five years, our undergraduate student numbers have been increasing at 4% per year and our PhD enrolments have grown from 120 to over 350. At the same time, our research funding from sources such as the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and the Marsden Fund, has also increased.

The new Alan MacDiarmid building, named after Victoria’s Nobel-Prize-winning alumnus, is due to open in mid-2010. It is 4500 square metres of purpose-built laboratory and office space and demonstrates Victoria University’s commitment to science teaching and research.

I should like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Faculty of Science and wish you well in your studies.

Professor David Bibby
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean
Faculty of Science