AUT Marsden and Mana Tūāpapa Success
AUT academics have been recognised in 2025’s Marsden Fund and Mana Tūāpapa Future Leader Fellowships.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Professor Mark Orams, says it is pleasing to see several AUT academics recognised in the changed research funding environment.
“As Aotearoa’s only university of technology AUT has the opportunity to be distinctive in our approach to research. We can draw upon our applied, real-world heritage and further develop our research so that it benefits our communities, city and nation.”
Dr Hazel Abraham has received a Mana Tūāpapa Future Leadership Fellowship of $820,000 for Te Ara Matihiko: Shaping digital futures using Generative Reo Māori AI models based on intergenerational storytelling.
Dr Cate Ryan has also received a Mana Tūāpapa Future Leadership Fellowship of $820,000 for Initiating New Zealand's Red List of Ecosystems: Using Coastal Active Dunes.
Mana Tūāpapa Fellowships are awarded to promising early-career researchers. Each recipient receives $820,000 over 4 years and will be supported by the Royal Society to develop leadership skills.
Professor Helena Cooper-Thomas has received a Marsden Fund Award of $853,000 for Relational reciprocity: learning from values-led organisations and their members to inform psychological contract research.
Professor Sebastian Leuzinger has received a Marsden Fund Award of $941,000 for A novel, multidisciplinary approach to characterising the transport of fluids in trees.