UniNews

Te Pā opens

The Otago University Childcare Association's new facility, Te Pā, has been officially opened, providing high-quality childcare and learning amenities in a safe, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing environment.

Eleven separate buildings were demolished on the on-campus site between Castle Street and Montgomery Avenue to make way for the new centre. However, the original look and feel of the Castle Street frontage has been retained with the recycling of bay windows, fascias and other decorative features from the former Edwardian villas. And, on the Montgomery Avenue side of the complex, project architects Parker and Warburton Team Architects have designed a modern interpretation of the classic villa.

The new facility effectively provides four childcare centres in the one location:

• Te Pārekereke o Te Kī: a bilingual centre for up to 28 children aged up to five years
• Te Maioha: two rooms of up to 16 children under two years of age
• Te Puna and Te Uru: each catering for two groups of 20 children aged from two to three and a half, and three and a half to five years of age.

Cementing the future

Building developments totalling around $650 million over the next 15 years will further cement the University of Otago's position as a leading teaching, learning and research institution.

The University's Priority Development Plan was approved in principle by Council in June and follows the guiding principles of, and many of the projects signalled in, the 2010 Campus Master Plan.

At the top of the list is a new Dental School, recognising the importance of Otago's school as the only tertiary training facility for dentists in New Zealand. Also given high priority are a major renovation of the Science precinct and upgrading of research project facilities mainly for Health Sciences in Dunedin.

Other projects on the list include:

• the construction of teaching, learning and research space at the Portobello aquarium with a longer-term goal of a new marine science teaching facility and aquarium, preferably in the Harbour Basin area
• new arts and biomedical research buildings
• new music facility (incorporating a new Centre of Performing Arts) and new facilities for the Department of Botany
• new research facility in the Christchurch Health Precinct for the University of Otago, Christchurch
• redevelopment of the former Unipol building, and a new student and academic services hub
• improvements to access and safety of the Commerce Building and refurbishment of buildings in the University's historic precinct
• completion of the refurbishment at the University of Otago, Wellington
• continuation of seismic strengthening work.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne says the Priority Development Plan shows what the University intends to focus on in the medium term with regards to its built environments.

“We want to improve what is already a first-class experience for students, teachers and researchers, and we want the campus to be enjoyed by the communities in which we live.”

However, she also points out that it is a living document and other projects may be added, or removed, as situations and needs change.

Supreme teaching award

Prime Minister the Rt Hon John Key with Dr Karyn Paringatai.

For the third successive year, an Otago academic has won New Zealand's top prize for tertiary teaching. The Prime Minister, the Rt Hon John Key, presented his 2014 Supreme Award for Tertiary Teaching Excellence to Dr Karyn Paringatai (Ngāti Porou), lecturer at Te Tumu – School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies.

The Supreme Award recognises Paringatai's 12 years of teaching learners from a wide variety of backgrounds to become a “whānau of champions” for the revitalisation of te reo Māori.
Her award citation noted that:

“as a committed practitioner of Kaupapa Māori and a passionate student and scholar of te reo Māori and Māori performing arts, Karyn Paringatai personifies excellent teaching. Her revival of the ancient practice of teaching in the dark and subsequent research into its benefits is world leading and has the potential to positively impact teaching in a range of disciplines, including law. She is an exceptional teacher whose teaching excellence transcends her particular discipline and the boundaries of ethnicity.”

Paringatai is the third Otago staff member to have won the supreme award over the past three years. Last year it was awarded to Associate Professor Gordon Sanderson from the Dunedin School of Medicine and, in 2012, to Associate Professor Rhiannon Braund of the School of Pharmacy.

A total of five Otago academics have won the Prime Minister's Supreme Award for Tertiary Teaching Excellence in the past 12 years, a level of success unmatched by any other tertiary institution.

Confucius Institute launched

The Otago satellite office of the Confucius Institute in Auckland was recently formally launched in Dunedin.The institute is dedicated to enhancing understanding between China and New Zealand.

The launch also marked the development of a Memorandum of Understanding that will see the University work with the Confucius Institute at the University of Canterbury to facilitate the promotion of Chinese language and culture in schools and the community of Dunedin.

Arts fellows selected

The University's support of New Zealand's multifaceted arts community continues with the selection of its 2015 Arts Fellowships.

Wellington poet Louise Wallace has been named Robert Burns Fellow; Auckland artist John Ward Knox as Frances Hodgkins Fellow; Hamilton-based composer Jeremy Mayall continues as Mozart Fellow; US-based dance therapist Uzoamaka Nwankpa as Caroline Plummer Fellow in Community Dance; and Robyn Belton and Jennifer Beck will be the University of Otago College of Education Creative NZ Children's Writers in Residence.

Otago partner in National Science Challenges

The University is a partner in all four National Science Challenges for which funding has been announced so far.

The four challenges involve:

• developing high-value foods with health benefits
• understanding the role of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean in determining climate and future environment
• protecting and managing New Zealand's biodiversity, improving its biosecurity and enhancing our resilience to harmful organisms
• enhancing the use of New Zealand's marine resources within environmental and biological constraints.

These are among 10 challenges selected last year to tackle the biggest science-based issues and opportunities facing New Zealand. They provide an opportunity to align and focus the country's research on large and complex issues by drawing researchers together from different institutions and across disciplines to achieve a common goal through collaboration.

Science investment funds

Six innovative University of Otago-led research proposals will receive $10.15 million in new science investment funding. The new programmes are being supported through the health and society, high-value manufacturing and services, and biological industries funds administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The programmes involve developing:

• a mathematical model for New Zealand policy-makers to assesses the benefits, cost and cost-effectiveness of a range of health interventions
• improved titanium implants to reduce complications and implant failure
• protein from lower grade wool as a premium food ingredient
• medical technology allowing neurochemicals to be non-invasively delivered to the brain to treat diseases such as Parkinson's
• highly accurate portable gravity-measuring devices using atomic optics for geo-science and other field applications
• compounds for infant formula that stimulate the growth of healthy bowel bacteria in a similar way to breast milk.



Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) Professor Richard Blaikie says these proposals exemplify the innovative, world-leading research undertaken at Otago.

Health research supported

Otago researchers gained more than $31 million to support their innovative studies in this year's Health Research Council annual funding round.

The researchers were awarded 24 contracts, including three multi-million, five-year programmes, 14 projects and seven grants for emerging researchers. Otago's successful applicants spanned the University's campuses in Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington and, together, gained the largest share of funding of any institution in this latest round.

Otago debaters excel

The Otago University Debating Society (OUDS) has continued its run of successes by recently taking top honours in New Zealand's oldest and most respected national university debating tournament, Joynt Scroll.

Earlier this year, OUDS was named in the top tier of competitors for the World Universities Debating Championship 2015 team allocations, alongside 10 other prestigious institutions including Oxford, Yale, Harvard and Cambridge.

The ranking reflects OUDS's performances at the past three championships, in which it defeated universities such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, London Union and Princeton. Most notably, Otago reached the 2013 grand final – the first time in OUDS's 125-year history that an Otago team has done this.

The 2015 world championships will be held in Malaysia in late December and early January with around 400 teams competing.