Research at the Faculty of Science
Students surveying quadrats for alpine plant distribution patterns at Molesworth Station, New Zealand.
Research is fundamental to the activities of all five Schools in the Faculty of Science.
The content of our undergraduate BSc programme is informed and kept current by the research of staff in each School.
Postgraduate students are a key part of the research conducted here. Many postgraduates carry out work that leads to scientific breakthroughs and their work is regularly presented at international conferences and in peer-reviewed international journals.
The Schools within the Faculty of Science offer postgraduates a wide variety of options for study in their chosen field. Honours, Masters and PhD students all conduct varied and interesting research, with the support and supervision of academic staff. Currently 300 PhD and 200 Masters by thesis students are enrolled in the Faculty and form an integral part of the life of the Schools and wider university.
Research performance at Victoria University, along with all New Zealand tertiary education providers, is assessed by the Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF) exercise. Future funding is allocated on the basis of this performance and ensures that excellence in research is encouraged and rewarded.
Victoria University of Wellington consistently performs well in the PBRF and was ranked 3rd and 4th in the last two assessments. In particular, Psychology, Human Geography, Physics, Mathematics and Earth Sciences all received very high national rankings and quality scores.
The University places a high value on its academic staff and invests significantly in their research programmes and the postgraduate students they supervise. Success in gaining contested research funding from external sources such as the Marsden Fund and the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, also adds millions of dollars each year to the research budget and demonstrates the national and international standing of the Faculty's scientists.
More information is available from each School's research pages:
School of Biological Sciences
School of Chemical and Physical Sciences
School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences
School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research
School of Psychology