Postgraduate research opportunities, University of Otago, New Zealand

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, some restrictions may be in place. Visit otago.ac.nz/covid19 for ongoing updates.

Water Safety Education Study

Deciphering translation of the ‘untranslated’ regions of messenger RNAs

Māori Masters Scholarship

How does the primary care nurse delivered Prediabetes Intervention Package (PIP) influence health-related quality of life?

Circulating bacterial DNA as a prognostic marker for myocardial infarction

Are there protein amyloids in cancer?

Regulatory role of the oncoprotein YB-1 in microtentacle formation and metastasis

Oocyte quality and fertility

Defining mechanisms controlling aberrant Fn14 regulation in cancer progression

Formulation approaches for boosting efficacy of mRNA vaccines

Cancer therapy: Nanotechnology-biological approaches to re-educating the tumor microenvironment to overcome suppression of cancer therapies

Metal isotope tracing of heavy metal pollutants (funded with stipend)

Iron inputs to the Ross Sea, Antarctica in a warming world

Understanding drug tolerance. How do tumours survive targeted therapy?

Observing heterogeneity in neutrophil phagosomes

PhD project: Extended release antibacterial systems to promote bone regeneration in oral wounds

Quantitative epidemiological research using big data

Clinical Trials in Health Sciences

Measuring the health state preferences of New Zealanders

Iti Rearea Collective: Intervention research of a novel entrepreneurship and microfinance programme for resettled refugees

Bioengineering of antimicrobial scaffolds for tissue regeneration

NeuroTech Research

The role of iron in brain cancer

Repeat flowering in blueberries

Plumbing system controls on the eruption patterns at Taranaki Volcano

Mount Horrible, South Island’s youngest volcano

Rongoā Mamaku as a Wound Healing Therapeutic

Acellular strategy for tissue repair

Meteorite research at Otago

Metamorphism in Zealandia

Research topics on Earth's mantle

Comprehensive characterization of uncommon TP53 mutations in cancer

Understanding how tumours adapt to chromosomal instability and evolve to promote an aggressive disease

Peroxidasin oxidants in melanoma cell signalling

Investigating the impact of epigenetic processes in colorectal cancer

Investigating immune cell death processes using live cell microscopy

The role of circulating bacteria in cardiovascular disease

Investigating the presence of protein amyloids in cancer

Identifying the mechanism of action of a marine-derived anticancer compound

A PhD position for a Deep South National Science Challenge-funded project to study the contribution of seasonal snow to the water cycle at a national scale in New Zealand

Public Housing Research Opportunity

Vitamin C in cancer cell biology, immune health and epigenetics

Paediatric Infectious Diseases

MARS Spectral CT Group PhD Positions

Lung cancer screening

Improving Māori and Pacific health inequities by ensuring equitable implementation of evidence based practices, interventions and/or policies

Cell biology/biochemistry

Rheumatology Research

Public health aspects of drug and alcohol misuse

Understanding New Zealand’s science sector from a Te Ao Māori perspective

What is a good life for animals in te ao Māori?

Epidemiology, patient safety and quality improvement

Immune system-derived oxidants in the treatment and diagnosis of respiratory diseases

Longitudinal health and social outcomes

Neonatal Paediactrics

Paediatric Gastroenterology

Paediatric Respiratory Diseases

Paediatric Diabetes and Endocrinology

Christchurch Heart Institute – Translational Biodiscovery Lab

Nutrition in Medicine: Clinical trial research

Christchurch Heart Institute – Physiology

Gastroenterology: Hepatology and Nutrition

Christchurch Heart Institute – The Omics Lab

Gynaecological Cancer Research

Respiratory medicine research

Clinical Pharmacology

Cancer research: tumour hypoxia, vitamin C and iron

Reconstructing Southern Ocean productivity and carbon cycle dynamics in the Neogene

Tumour Microenvironment

Cancer genetics research: cancer susceptibility and prevention

Genetic and genomic analysis of diseases and their treatments

Trusting the enemy: Understanding intergroup trust in conflict and peace studies through social psychological approaches

A High Quality Aotearoa New Zealand Diet for Metabolic Health and Whānau Wellbeing - He Rourou Whai Painga (HRWP)

Is there a relationship between nutrition, microbiome and antenatal depression?

Thematic analysis of factors attributed to recovery amongst staff enrolled in the Air New Zealand Alcohol and Other Drug Programme

Dual-comb spectroscopy – resolving optical precision electronically

Doctor, my heel has a spike! What does that mean?

Gunshots, falls and helmets – Improving human head models

From remission to relapse: How do tumour resistance is driven under the pressure of immune responses?

Determine the contribution of the p53 isoform, Δ133p53, in the development of bowel inflammation and IBD

Regulation of immunity by microparticles excreted from human papillomavirus positive cervical cancer cells

Characterisation of YB-1 interactions with the cytoskeleton using live cell imaging

Predicting risk of diabetes complications and costs using machine learning with equity analysis

Sport and alcohol policy

Disrupting the pathway to suicidal thinking and behaviour in adolescents and young adults

Molecular mechanisms, genomics and role of the microbiome in response to therapy in rectal cancer

Disruption of timing and sequencing mechanisms in a model of schizophrenia

Sexual behaviour in rodents

PhD scholarship for developing real time analysis of marine biomass

Spectroscopy of disease (funded with stipend)

Disturbance of the ‘Cellular uric acid homeostasis’ as the driver for diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cancer

Investigating the role of hormones on the neural circuitry controlling parental behaviour.

Vasopressin in hypertension

Neuroendocrine pathology in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Novel approaches for treating cardiovascular disease

Investigating the interplay between calcium and reactive oxygen species in skeletal muscle function

ENaC’s contribution in COVID-19

ENaC in the vasculature and its role in hypertension

The role of recycling complexes in trafficking of ion channels in polarised epithelia

How do drugs used to treat mood disorders affect brain networks?

Control of stress circuit excitability

The fat surrounding the human heart in obesity and arrhythmias

Central regulation of the diabetic heart

Loss of irreplaceable cells as a driver for cardiac dysfunction in old age?

Epithelial sodium channel as a target in breast cancer

The role of ultrastructural changes in cardiac dysfunction

Neuroendocrine control of obesity and diabetes

Regulation of Ubiquitin chain assembly

Biomarkers of response to radiotherapy in rectal cancer

The microbiome in colorectal cancer metastasis

The role of the microbiome in the development of colorectal cancer

The microbiome and diverticular disease

Molecular mechanisms of colorectal cancer

Epidemiological studies of colorectal cancer in New Zealand

Diverticular disease in Canterbury; patterns of presentation, predicators of recurrence and outcomes from surgery including quality of life

Outcomes of Colorectal cancer in New Zealand

Epidemiological and outcome study of anal cancer

Biomarkers and gastrointestinal disease

Host iron status and gastrointestinal disease

Gut bacteria and colorectal cancer

Early onset colorectal cancer

Genetics of colorectal cancer

Diverticular disease

Surgical management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Validation of 3D printed thorascopic model of surgical expertise in oesophageal atresia repair

Is a Cryptic Late Cretaceous Suture Hidden in the Otago Schist?

Investigation of the connection between cohesin’s roles in cell division and gene expression in embryonic cell fate commitment

Investigation of a Wnt/cohesin cause for AML

Reversal of enhancer dysregulation to combat cohesin-mutant leukemia

Mushrooms and truffles - why are they different?

Age and metamorphism of the lower crust of the North Island and South Island, NZ

Environmental geochemistry at modern and historic gold mines in Otago

Wall-rock alteration in gold deposits in Westland, NZ

Thermal and isotopic evolution of an exhumed accretionary prism: Otago Schist, New Zealand

Redox Regulation of Signal Transduction

Mental health services: experiences and outcomes

Post-injury Health, Disability and Well-being Outcomes: Multiple projects available

The role of extracellular vesicles in immune regulation by cancer-causing human papillomaviruses

Neurodegenerative and Lysosomal Disease

The historical role of parks in representing colonial Aotearoa

Evolution of the Paterson Inlet sedimentary basin, Stewart Island

Volcanism in Central Otago

Towards categorising software vulnerable in publically available code (funded MSc, PhD, or postdoc)

Becoming a Paralympian: Identity development and post-traumatic growth through sport

Footwear, foot function, falls risk, and ageing

Patient education and self-management for patients with persistent rotator cuff related shoulder pain

Predictors for confidence and self-efficacy following ACL reconstruction

Sleep patterns and children’s oral health

Worker deaths involving vehicles – identifying opportunities for prevention

RNA biology, genome variation, and bioinformatics

Proofing code reuse: Detecting errors in publicly available software (fully-funded PhD scholarship)

Health and disability discordance

Respiratory service provision for people with Neuromuscular disease

Parks for Activity and Recreation in the Community (PARCs)

Implementing STarT Back in New Zealand for people with low back pain

Dose of manual therapy for people with knee osteoarthritis

Complex (combined) interventions for the management of people with osteoarthritis

E kore au e ngaro – The enduring legacy of whakapapa

High-resolution reconstruction of past water quality using innovative non-destructive core scanning techniques in New Zealand lake sediments

The experience of ‘denormalisation’ among smokers in Aotearoa – what is it and what implications does it have for developing strategies to reach a Smokefree Aotearoa?

Tracing gold mineralization and associated heavy-metal pollution using lead isotopes

Provenance of sand and mud in turbidites using detrital zircons and neodymium isotopes

Trace elements in freshwater bivalve shells as records of water quality

Smoking and occupation in Aotearoa: A census-based analysis

Cloud and distributed systems security

Large-scale data science

Time-series database systems

Distributed data provenance tracking and data sovereignty

Explainable, context-sensitive, user-centric security

Spatial ecology of urban possums

Upper Clutha terrace chronology and late Quaternary activity of the Pisa Fault

Ice mechanics and the dynamics of ice sheets

Ross Sea Paleoceanography and ice shelf retreat – 15 kyr to present

Eocene-Oligocene paleoclimate of NZ constructed from drill cores

Surtsey volcano’s diatreme

The structural and lithological characterization of the Port Chalmers Breccia

"Marine" seismic imaging of the Ostler Fault in Mackenzie Country, central South Island, New Zealand

"Marine" seismic imaging of the floor of Lake Roxburgh, Central Otago, New Zealand

Understanding the timing and drivers of drought in New Zealand

3D lithological reconstruction of the Dunedin Volcano

Climate of the last millennium

Mechanism for active subsidence of the Dunedin volcano

Seismic analysis of the Hyde Fault

Metamorphic Methane and Gold Mineralization in the Otago Schist

Developing a crustal P-wave velocity model for SE South Island using petroleum industry sources and land-based broadband seismometers

Ethics and social license of antimicrobials developed for animal-only use

Hydrothermal reaction experiments involving serpentinite

Quaternary Stratigraphy (and/or Structure?) of Otago Harbour

Effects of dike/fissure-wall properties on near-surface magma transport and eruption: An experimental approach using molten wax

Socio-cultural, political-economic and media impact of sport

Humanities and arts in health

Human resource management

Bibliography and book history

Voice and tone in 18th-century British literature

Small beginnings, significant outcomes: A new life-course approach to understanding the impacts of social inequality on human health in ancient China

Research in Pharmacy Practice

Ethical dimensions of public health and health policy; global health justice

Tracking PhD graduates - where do they go?

Clinical research in concussion recovery

MA (by thesis) or PhD thesis in Māori Studies, Indigenous Development, or Pacific Islands Studies

BA(Hons), PGDipArts or MA (Coursework) in Māori Studies or Indigenous Development

Master of Indigenous Studies (MIndS)

Indigenous medievalisms: Intercultural interactions c.1000–1500CE

Principlism and medical ethics

Postgraduate Research Opportunity in Music at the University of Otago School of Performing Arts

Transport and ageing

Older adults experiences of the pedestrian environment

Socio-spatial equity and shared micromobility

Social and distributional impacts of transport

Transport accessibility and relation to health and social outcomes

The NEEDN’T Food Study

Mental health nursing

Improving functioning in mood disorders – includes psychotherapy, neurocognitive interventions, and family interventions in mood disorders

The experience of and recovery from psychiatric disorders

Psychological consequences of psychiatric disorders

Rhetoric and style in Roman historical texts

Politics and propaganda in Roman coinage

Imperial cult and the politics of Roman religion

Ancient Greek history: Numismatics

Hellenistic history

Ancient Greek history: The Diadochoi

Ancient Greek history: Philip II and Alexander the Great

Farid Ud-din Attar's The Conference of the Birds and Geoffrey Chaucer's The Parliament of Fowls: An Intercultural Investigation

Transport and Health: Multiple projects available

Australian nineteenth-century settler literature

Application of machine learning algorithms for EEG data processing

Investigating the mechanisms underlying exercise as a treatment for anxiety

Race in the Middle Ages: Perceptions of whiteness

Molecular mechanisms of developmental disorders

Evaluation of the Good One Party Register – a Public Health South alcohol harm reduction health promotion intervention

Understanding the intersection between endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

The Learning Repro Study: Understanding of reproduction and reproductive health in young people

Regulation of Stress Granule assembly and disassembly in disease

Developing a Neogene chronostratigraphic reference section for the Southern Ocean

Inflammation research

Making it work – understanding and assessing residential rehabilitation in the Salvation Army context

Are residential aged care facilities required to offer cardiac resuscitation (CPR) to their residents?

Neo-Victorianism

Philosophy of psychiatry, mental health, gender, ethics and sport

Parallel machine learning algorithms

Augmented reality to enhance human vision

Environmental humanities

Development of microfluidic techniques and 3D printing strategies for medical device applications

Victorian literature and culture

Investigating the mechanisms underlying anxiety and its treatment

Cicero the philosopher

Archaeology of the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire

High performance computing for big data

Accounting education (various topics)

Living well with patellofemoral pain

Analysis of cancer genome atlas data to identify epigenetic signature of tumour metastasis

Investigation of genetic and epigenetic signatures of primary and metastatic cancer (melanoma and colorectal cancer)

Mobile apps in healthcare

Technology adoption in medical education

Medical Education: Translating theory to practice

Towards a new penicillin for rheumatic fever prevention

Implementation of genomic medicine in Aotearoa

The applicability of ctDNA for early cancer detection

The role of inflammation shaping the response to acute myocardial infarction

Molecular biomarkers in colorectal cancer

Intellectual or learning disability

Two PhD positions in Protein Biochemistry

Endometrial cancer: projects available in genomic, cell biology, clinical and public health areas

Psychotherapy for mood disorders

Psychological adaptation to medical illness

Personality disorders and treatment

Māori mental health

Obesity

Eating disorders

Neurocognitive interventions

Anxiety disorders and treatment

Addiction and co-existing disorders

Qualitative methods

Tobacco control and vaping

Pleasure and health

Critical approaches to public health and health promotion

Health professionals and interprofessional boundaries

Nursing practice

Health professional education

Health services delivery

Health leadership

Mental health

Family-centred care

Women’s health

Management of long-term conditions

Parkinson’s and related disorders

Public perceptions of genomic medicine

Christchurch Heart Institute clinical research

Postgraduate research opportunities at the University of Otago