Search Marsden awards 2008–2017
Search awarded Marsden Fund grants 2008–2017
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2013
Title: New Zealand's stormy past: resolving changes in South Island precipitation under varying influence of tropical and polar forcing over the past 17,000 years
Recipient(s): Dr RH Levy | PI | GNS Science
Dr GB Dunbar | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Dr S Fitzsimons | AI | University of Otago
Dr F Florindo | AI | Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia
Professor DS Kaufman | AI | Northern Arizona University
Dr CM Moy | AI | University of Otago
Dr SJ Phipps | AI | University of New South Wales
Dr A Sood | AI | NIWA - The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd
Dr JR Stone | AI | Indiana State University
Dr M Vandergoes | AI | GNS Science
Dr GS Wilson | AI | University of Otago
Public Summary: Our knowledge of the potential impact of climate change, particularly on the frequency and magnitude of storm events in the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, is limited by the relatively short-duration of instrumental records. High-resolution climate records that span millennia are essential to place current anthropogenic climate change into a longer perspective. This project will recover a highly-resolved ~100 m-thick sedimentary archive of hydrologic and climate variability from Lake Ohau. Detailed study of this record will establish new understanding of the drivers of change in South Island hydrology through periods of known global warming over the last ~17,000 years. Importantly, our climate reconstructions will enable us to constrain rates of hydrologic change at sub-decadal scales and determine whether current patterns (i.e. precipitation decrease and persistent positive Southern Annular Mode) were common in the past. New information gleaned from this unique record will be integrated with numerical climate and hydrological model simulations to help identify synoptic scale causes for climate variability and assess the effect of warming on New Zealand’s climate processes. Outcomes will refine our understanding of interactions between the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds, Southern Annular Mode and El-Nino Southern Oscillation and their influence on Southern Hemisphere precipitation and temperature variability.
Total Awarded: $782,609
Duration: 3
Host: GNS Science
Contact Person: Dr RH Levy
Panel: ESA
Project ID: 13-GNS-016
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2016
Title: Ngā Takahuringā ō te ao- The effect of Climate Change on Traditional Māori Calendars
Recipient(s): Dr PL Harris | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Ms LWM Clarke | AI | He Poutoko Matauranga - Eastbay REAP
Mr R Makiha | AI | Wakes' Scientific Consulting
Dr R Matamua | AI | University of Waikato
Ms AK Nu'uhiwa | AI | Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation
Mr OHT Simmonds | AI | Safety Management System Aotearoa Ltd
Public Summary: Climate change is fast becoming a reality for many indigenous peoples around the world. The peoples of the Pacific including Māori are now experiencing the negative impacts of climate change. For some, this in the form of coastal erosion and higher sea level change to increased temperature and changes in flowering and fruit ripening times. Scientists have traditionally engaged in various forms of rigorous efforts to understand climate change, utilizing techniques, such as computational modeling and ice core analysis. Indigenous knowledge is also being sought to offer a complementary set of data that can be used to inform on long-term climate patterns. For Māori, this knowledge is captured within the traditional calendar system called the maramataka, which contains observations of the environment, ecology, weather and the celestial; used to help track seasonal and lunar times. Therefore, shifts in observation may indicate external factors affecting change to the system, with climate change being one possibility. To this end, this project aims to collate and revive traditional Māori ecological knowledge relevant to traditional calendars using both qualitative and quantitative methods, such as semi-structured interviews, Wānanga, phenological observations and mining published and unpublished materials, in order to assess observed effects of climate change.
Total Awarded: $720,000
Duration: 3
Host: Victoria University of Wellington
Contact Person: Dr PL Harris
Panel: SOC
Project ID: 16-VUW-177
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2017
Title: NO Heart: A novel mechanism for modulating cardiac calcium by nitric oxide
Recipient(s): Dr JR Erickson | PI | University of Otago
Associate Professor LC Hool | AI | University of Western Australia
Dr RR Lamberts | AI | University of Otago
Public Summary: Nitric oxide (NO) is a key mediator of Ca2+ handling and cellular signaling in the heart, but the targets of NO that coordinate its cardiac effects are largely unknown. Our group recently identified a new target for NO regulation of cardiac physiology, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII). CaMKII activation has broad impact on cardiac physiology, including increasing Ca2+ flux, lowering the threshold for Ca2+ entry, and increasing developed pressure. Our work demonstrated that CaMKII can be both activated and inhibited by NO via a pair of parallel mechanisms that result in nitrosylation of two residues (C273 and C290). Moreover, regulation of CaMKII activity by NO directly impacted Ca2+ handling in myocytes by altering the amount of Ca2+ release from internal stores. In this project, we will determine three critical functional consequences of NO-dependent CaMKII activity: 1) the effects on cellular Ca2+ handling and arrhythmogenic Ca2+ leak in myocytes, 2) the effects on Ca2+ entry into myocytes to initiate contraction, and 3) the effects on whole heart function. With this work, we hope to establish a new mechanism by which NO controls cellular and whole heart function, which would provide novel insight into the physiological and pathological processes that underlie cardiac performance.
Total Awarded: $937,000
Duration: 3
Host: University of Otago
Contact Person: Dr JR Erickson
Panel: BMS
Project ID: 17-UOO-195
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2013
Title: No longer lost in recognition: development of novel large-vocabulary continuous speech recognition techniques
Recipient(s): Dr R Wang | PI | Massey University
Associate Professor WH Abdulla | AI | The University of Auckland
Dr DJ Joseph | AI | Massey University
Professor T Kawahara | AI | Kyoto University,
Associate Professor IR Lane | AI | Carnegie Mellon University
Associate Professor A Lee | AI | Nagoya Institute of Technology
Public Summary: Speech processing (e.g., speech recognition) is one of the main areas in signal processing. Large-vocabulary continuous speech recognition (LVCSR), especially spontaneous speech recognition, remains a grand scientific challenge in the signal processing and artificial intelligence communities. This research aims to develop several novel LVCSR techniques. We will then apply our newly developed techniques and other state-of-the-art speech recognition technologies to develop a Maori speech recognition system that can convert Maori speech (such as continuous news broadcast speech and spontaneous speech) to Maori text. This research will for the first time develop a large-vocabulary continuous Maori speech recognition system.
Total Awarded: $660,870
Duration: 3
Host: Massey University
Contact Person: Dr R Wang
Panel: EIS
Project ID: 13-MAU-116
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2017
Title: Noisy networks: understanding how stochasticity affects mathematical models of cognitive systems
Recipient(s): Associate Professor CM Postlethwaite | PI | The University of Auckland
Professor P Ashwin | AI | University of Exeter
Public Summary: Dynamical systems theory is the study of the long-term behaviour of systems that evolve with time. Such systems are ubiquitous in nature, and examples include the planets orbiting around the sun, the complicated weather systems in the Earth’s atmosphere, and the interactions between the many species of plants and animals that live on the Earth’s surface. A heteroclinic network is a special type of solution to a dynamical system that can be found in mathematical models describing a diverse range of physical systems, from fluid dynamics to populations models and cognitive functions. However, current theory focusses on very idealised situations, and does not include the very common situation when systems are affected by noise.
It is well-known that noise can modify the behavior of dynamical systems, but the effects of noise on heteroclinic networks can be counter-intuitive and are not well understood. In particular, the addition of noise can cause long-term correlations, or memory, in the dynamics of the network. The proposed research combines cutting-edge mathematics to quantify the role of noise in determining the dynamics near networks, with advanced mathematical modeling. The modeling approaches developed will have the potential to be applied in a wide range of scientific fields.
Total Awarded: $545,000
Duration: 3
Host: The University of Auckland
Contact Person: Associate Professor CM Postlethwaite
Panel: MIS
Project ID: 17-UOA-096
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2012
Title: Non-classical foundations of analysis
Recipient(s): Dr MN McKubre-Jordens | PI | University of Canterbury
Dr Z Weber | AI | University of Otago
Public Summary: The original Calculus (Newton and Leibniz), and with it the theory of real numbers, was inconsistent. Although mathematicians have technically resolved this, deep conceptual mysteries surrounding the relationship of finite to infinite remain. Recent advances in logic - in particular, the development of paraconsistent logics - permit the coherent investigation of those aspects of structure that are otherwise hidden by inconsistency. A reasonable paraconsistent foundation for analysis of the real numbers remains conspicuously absent from the current state of human knowledge. The project addresses this knowledge gap.
This project will develop coherent models of the real numbers which classically are categorical with the usual real line, but distinguishable using a paraconsistent logic. On founding analysis paraconsistently, delicate questions arise concerning convergence of sequences, boundedness of sets, and continuity of functions, each of which are cornerstone notions necessary for an in-depth development of analysis. Surprising phenomena, such as increasing bounded sequences that do not converge, will emerge, with far-reaching implications for pure mathematics and theoretical computability. In tackling these questions, the project will lay the foundations for further significant developments in this prestigious subfield of mathematics.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: University of Canterbury
Contact Person: Dr MN McKubre-Jordens
Panel: MIS
Project ID: 12-UOC-054
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2011
Title: Norms, volition, and nuclear destinies: the power of anti-nuclear policy advocates
Recipient(s): Dr MR Rublee | PI | The University of Auckland
Public Summary: Funding not taken up
Total Awarded: $252,589
Duration: 3
Host: The University of Auckland
Contact Person: Dr MR Rublee
Panel: SOC
Project ID: 11-UOA-132
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2016
Title: Novel Decomposition Techniques for Multiobjective Optimisation
Recipient(s): Dr A Raith | PI | The University of Auckland
Associate Professor RM Lusby | AI | Technical University of Denmark
Public Summary: Decomposition techniques for optimisation problems have significantly improved the ability to solve problems of ever-increasing complexity and problem size. Many real-world problems must be formulated with multiple objectives; solving multiobjective optimisation problems (MOPs) means identifying sets of efficient solutions representing available trade-offs. We propose to integrate ideas of problem decomposition and MOP techniques to more effectively deal with complexity in MOPs. We will analyse this integration theoretically, derive solution algorithms and test them on real-world problems. The proposed research lays the foundations of a new field of MOP decomposition techniques, contributing to theory and practice of mathematical optimisation.
The premise of a decomposition technique is to omit parts of the problem that are unlikely to influence the final solution, and iteratively include, as needed, the parts which will have an impact. We will analyse the theoretical consequences of integrating different decomposition techniques with MOPs. Based on our theoretical analysis, we will implement decomposition-based MOP solution algorithms. We will apply our decomposition techniques to challenging MOPs to demonstrate their effectiveness. One application area is network routing where cost and delay are minimised, another is airline scheduling, where the aim is to minimise cost and maximise solution robustness.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: The University of Auckland
Contact Person: Dr A Raith
Panel: MIS
Project ID: 16-UOA-086
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Standard
Year Awarded: 2012
Title: Novel movement retraining for musculoskeletal and neurological disorders using artificial muscle
Recipient(s): Dr TF Besier | PI | The University of Auckland
Prof DG Lloyd | AI | Griffith University
Dr TG McKay | AI | The University of Auckland
Public Summary: Movement disorders such as stroke, cerebral palsy and osteoarthritis dramatically impact quality of life. In walking, these disorders can alter muscle and joint forces leading to rapid joint degeneration. Movement retraining can be used to alter the mechanical loads placed on skeletal tissue and restore normal function. We seek to expand the scope and effectiveness of human movement retraining to make a real impact on quality of life. To achieve this, our novel system will integrate wearable sensors with computational models to estimate muscle and joint contact forces in real time and then provide intuitive tactile feedback using novel artificial muscle technology. We will test this movement retraining framework by altering the walking patterns of patients with knee joint osteoarthritis. This new approach to movement retraining has the potential to revolutionise rehabilitation strategies for a range of musculoskeletal disease and neuromuscular disorders.
Total Awarded: $808,696
Duration: 3
Host: The University of Auckland
Contact Person: Dr TF Besier
Panel: EIS
Project ID: 12-UOA-122
Fund Type: Marsden Fund
Category: Fast-Start
Year Awarded: 2014
Title: Novel organic metal halides for perovskite sensitised solar cells
Recipient(s): Dr JE Halpert | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Public Summary: Organic metal halide (OMH) 'perovskites' are revolutionizing the field of solution processed thin film solar cells. However, significant questions remain about how they function and how they can be improved. We intend to synthesize new organic metal halide materials by varying the metal ions and organic groups to achieve materials with varying properties. We can then use ultrafast absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy methods to determine the nature of charge and exciton processes in thin films of these materials and compare them to known lead halide systems. We will then fabricate novel device architectures for these 'perovskite' solar cells and study charge separation and conduction properties in functional devices. Ultimately we expect to build a model for how OMH-perovskite thin films function in solar cells that can suggest new synthetic targets to improve device functionality.
Total Awarded: $300,000
Duration: 3
Host: Victoria University of Wellington
Contact Person: Dr JE Halpert
Panel: PCB
Project ID: 14-VUW-218