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Latest news and publications

Government offers financial boost to struggling universities

28 June 2023 | news

Universities New Zealand today welcomed the Government announcement of $128 million of additional investment for the tertiary education sector....

New Zealand universities shine in latest international rankings

28 June 2023 | news

All eight New Zealand universities have gone up in the rankings in the 2024 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings and all are in the top 500 universities in the world....

Research vital to Aotearoa New Zealand supported by the William Georgetti scholarship

13 June 2023 | media

From theoretical physics to addressing fundamental issues in the criminal justice system, the nine recipients of the William Georgetti Scholarships for 2023 represent some of the finest student...

Ethel Benjamin Scholarship winner to attend Yale Law School

13 June 2023 | news

Universities New Zealand Te Pōkai Tara is delighted to announce that Auckland lawyer Jessica Fenton has been awarded the 2023 New Zealand Law Foundation Ethel Benjamin Scholarship....

Supporting a young musician's first steps on the world stage

01 June 2023 | media

An outstanding young Aotearoa New Zealand soprano has been awarded a 2023 Kia Ora Foundation Patricia Pratt Scholarship to support her study towards a Master of Music in Performance Classical Voice...

UNZ launches new Introductory TR-PSR training module

23 May 2023 | news

Universities New Zealand (UNZ) is pleased to announce the launch of a new online training series aimed at raising awareness about risks relating to foreign interference and export controls...

More pressure for universities in Budget 2023

18 May 2023 | media

Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara appreciates the 5% increase in funding for teaching (Delivery and Quality - DQ funding) as outlined in today’s Budget....

Critic and Conscience of Society Award winner holds those in power to account

12 May 2023 | news

For the vital role he has played in contributing analysis and academic expertise to areas of public interest, the winner of the 2023 Critic and Conscience of Society Award is Dr Dean Knight,...

Postgraduate scholarship and stipend support in the university sector

19 April 2023 | submissions

This submission to Parliament's Education and Workforce Select Committee discusses the scholarship and stipend support available to postgraduate students at each of New Zealand’s eight universities...

Universities launch ‘Piki Ake’

30 March 2023 | news

A transition programme designed to change the trajectory for upcoming Māori researchers...

Robertson Scholar an extraordinary all-rounder

21 March 2023 | media

‘An extraordinary all-rounder who goes above and beyond what is usually expected of a high school student’. That is how one of his teachers describes Hunter Haynes, 18, winner of this year’s...

Combine travel and study with the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters

14 February 2023 | news

Sarah Miller graduated with a master’s degree in November 2022 from the University of Glasgow, however Dublin City University and Charles University in Prague were also degree-awarding bodies on...

Briefing to the incoming Minister of Education January 2023

10 February 2023 | submissions

Read Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara's January 2023 Briefing to the Incoming Minister of Education, the Hon Jan Tinetti....

Myers Scholarship recipient looks forward to giving New Zealand a voice in Cambridge

09 February 2023 | news

Rangimarie Puttick, recipient of this year’s Sir Douglas Myers Scholarship to attend Gonville and Caius College at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, will go to Cambridge “not only...

DOC-funded scholarships support critical research

07 February 2023 | news

Research to help address the impact of the climate crisis on biodiversity is a notable feature among topics that have received Department of Conservation postgraduate scholarship support this year....

Emeritus Professor Stuart McCutcheon (1955–2023)

13 January 2023 | news

Emeritus Professor Stuart McCutcheon, who died on 6 January aged 68, was a highly valued and hugely respected member of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee for nearly 20 years, four of the...

From the Chair: The need for universities only grows, but not funding

15 December 2022 | news

By Professor Jan Thomas Vice-Chancellor, Massey University Chair of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee When I began my two-year term as Chair of Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara i...

Between a rock and a hard place

15 December 2022 | news

By Chris WhelanChief ExecutiveUniversities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara The annual reports of all universities showed a surplus last year. Yet all are also saying they can’t lift salaries for their...

Wānanga an important milestone for Māori academic career development programme

15 December 2022 | news

“Te Kei makes us look out from our silos and see the rest of the uni world and what that offers us and where we sit within it. This then reminds us who we are, what we have achieved, what we can a...

Universities look forward to contributing to research sector White Paper reforms

07 December 2022 | news

As trainers of most of the country’s researchers and home to nearly 60% of them, New Zealand’s eight universities expect to be key contributors to the major overhaul of the research, science and i...

Bilateral forum reaffirms universities’ close ties with Viet Nam

05 December 2022 | news

New Zealand’s eight universities have welcomed today’s Viet Nam – New Zealand Education Forum hosted at The University of Waikato as an opportunity to reaffirm and strengthen the sector’s longstan...

$50,000 Critic and Conscience of Society Award 2023 opens for applications

14 November 2022 | news

New Zealand university academics who excel at keeping the public informed with their expert commentary could receive a $50,000 grant as the 2023 Critic and Conscience of Society Award opens for ap...

NZ-China forum reaffirms commitment to higher education relationship

11 November 2022 | news

Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara (UNZ) and the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) yesterday co-hosted a successful sustainability-themed forum to reaffirm the...

Future human rights, climate action and healthcare leaders recognised by Rhodes Scholarships

04 November 2022 | news

The Rhodes Scholarship’s long history of identifying and developing future leaders in their fields continues with New Zealand’s 2022 recipients set to leave their mark on human rights, climate act...