19 June 2024 at 10:00 am

2024 Tripartite Fund awardees announced

Researchers from the universities of Auckland, Canterbury and Lincoln have been announced as the 2024 New Zealand China Tripartite Partnership Fund recipients 

240614 NZChina 248 resize v3
Back Row: PMSA recipients: Georgia Tattersall of the University of Otago, Lily Thomason of Victoria University of Wellington, Tristan Reiha of the University of Canterbury, Vincent Kennedy of the University of Canterbury. Front Row: Dr Graham Wise, University of Canterbury accepting the PMSA group award, Professor Cheryl de la Rey, University of Canterbury accepting the Tripartite Fund award on behalf of Professor Joce Nuttall, Prime Minister Luxon, Premier Li, Professor Dawn Freshwater from the University of Auckland accepting the award on behalf of Professor Chris Bullen; Professor Wanglin Ma, Lincoln University, Maia Hosking, University of Auckland PMSA recipient.

Education New Zealand Manapou ki Ao (ENZ) congratulates the recipients of the 2024 New Zealand China Tripartite Partnership Fund. The three recipients were announced by Prime Minister Rt Hon Christopher Luxon at the closing ceremony of the New Zealand-China High Level Education Forum held in Auckland on Friday 14 June. 

The recipients are Professor Chris Bullen from the University of Auckland, Professor Joce Nuttall from the University of Canterbury and Professor Wanglin Ma from Lincoln University. The three recipients were selected from a total of 30 applications by an assessment panel which included representatives from ENZ along with representatives from the New Zealand Ministries of Business, Immigration and Employment, Education, and Foreign Affairs and Trade. 

The New Zealand-China Tripartite Partnership Fund is an ENZ-sponsored initiative to encourage the development of strategic research relationships between New Zealand and China, as part of our wider goals to develop strong global connections and highlight the quality of New Zealand education and research. 

The fund was established in 2005 when the New Zealand and China Ministries of Education agreed to formally support and promote tripartite relationships between one New Zealand and two Chinese universities, in which a New Zealand university became the ‘third brother’ to an existing ‘two brothers’ agreement. 

University of Auckland – Professor Chris Bullen 

Credit: The National Institute for Health Innovation.

Professor Bullen’s proposal is a new Tripartite partnership in the sciences with Zhejiang University and Dali University. This project aims to combine the strengths of the University of Auckland, Zhejiang University, and Dali University to develop and implement a platform specifically designed for delivering comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation services remotely. The primary objective of the research is to build and test for feasibility a pulmonary rehabilitation platform, a solution that will benefit both New Zealand and China and populations who suffer from global health challenges such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). 

University of Canterbury – Professor Joce Nuttall 

Photo credit: University of Canterbury.

Professor Joce Nuttall of the University of Canterbury was awarded $25,000 for her proposal titled ‘Digital transformation in early years education: Establishing a shared platform for collaboration.’ 

Professor Nuttall’s proposal builds on University of Canterbury’s (UC) partnership with Shanghai Normal University that have been in place since 2017, and with Qufu Normal University since February 2023. Her research project aims to develop stronger teaching and learning methods for digital literacy in early childhood.   

Lincoln University – Professor Wanglin Ma 

Photo credit: Lincoln University.

Lincoln University’s Professor Wanglin Ma will be awarded $30,000 for his project titled Leveraging circular bio-economy principles for sustainable agricultural waste management: A New Zealand-China collaboration 

Professor Ma’s proposal was for a new Tripartite relationship in the applied sciences with China Agricultural University and Southwest Forestry University. His project focuses on waste management practices and advocating for innovative use in creating sustainable solutions for reimagining agricultural waste as a vital resource. The aim of the project is to develop strategies and technologies for the conversion of agricultural waste into high-value products in New Zealand and China.  

What's in it for me?