In this episode of RNZ's Our Changing World, Dr Andrew Lensen, a senior lecturer in AI at Te Herenga Waka, and Professor Bing Xue, deputy director of the University's Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, discuss how they're applying artificial intelligence in Aotearoa.

From his office window, Professor Geoff McLay can see all three branches of NZ’s government. He joined RNZ’s The House to unpack how they interact, interpret, and keep each other in check, without a written constitution, but with plenty of tension and tradition.

It's International Translation Day on Tuesday 30 September, coinciding with the Feast Day of Bible translator St Jerome, the patron saint of translators. For Professor Marco Sonzogni, the day is a special one to honour the work of translators and interpreters he calls "unsung heroes".

Giving a talk @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social (physics, Friday, 11am) - Drummers at the Gates of Dawn: Gravitational Waves from the Big Bang Department level so you will be able to follow the first part if you know a bit of physics... The second part if you know more than a bit of physics.

Te Herenga Waka researchers have secured $15m in Endeavour Fund support for projects from strengthening global software supply chains to brewing better non-alcoholic drinks—plus contributions to six others tackling challenges from tsunamis to climate monitoring.

Not every conference begins with a pōwhiri & a tour of one of the world’s most sustainable buildings! That’s how #ICUH25 will open in Wellington this November — don’t miss your chance to be part of it! Come visit @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social Ngā Mokopuna at #ICUH25 Register: icuh2025.org/registration

With AI regulation in Aotearoa lagging, more than 20 AI experts have signed an open letter urging the government to act. One of the authors, Dr Andrew Lensen, Programme Director for Artificial Intelligence at the University, spoke to RNZ about why stronger oversight is needed.

Research fellow Dr Vincent Olsen-Reeder and Associate Professor Corinne Seals unpack the jargon, such as “decoding” and “grapheme-phoneme correspondences”, behind the government’s near-total ban on Māori words in new books for teaching five-year-olds to read.

You can’t beat Wellington on a good day, and you definitely can’t beat Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington on Open Day. We’ve just wrapped up our biggest Open Day yet, welcoming more than 7,000 future students and their whānau to our campuses.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori and Kaitiakitanga, Professor Rawinia Higgins, who is also the Māori Language Commissioner, last week had the honour of speaking on a global panel alongside other Indigenous leaders at the Waves 2025 Indigenous Languages Summit in Ottawa.

Raised amid politics and diplomacy, David Harland has dedicated his career to peacebuilding in the world’s toughest conflict zones. From Te Herenga Waka to leading global mediation, his work shows the power of courage and dialogue. This year, he is a Distinguished Alumni Award winner.

Non-alcoholic beer has taken off in the past few years. Where options were once scarce, brewers are taking up the challenge in droves. But how can you get the same flavour into beer without it? This is where a cross-disciplinary team of researchers from Te Herenga Waka comes in.

Get ready to experience Wellington like a Vic Uni student! We've got our 2025 Open Day coming up on Friday, 22 August. Whether you’re coming from out of town or already call Wellington home, Open Day is your opportunity to picture the next exciting chapter of your life in the capital.

Time limits for filing civil claims relating to historic abuse continue to deny justice to survivors, say Dr Zoë Prebble, a lecturer in Criminal Law at Te Herenga Waka.

Announcing our 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award winners! Every two years, we celebrate the brightest and boldest innovators, visionaries, and community connectors from within our 140,000 alumni with the Distinguished Alumni Awards. This year, we have named five exceptional alumni as winners.

🫀 Our hearts might echo each other more than we think. @roydongoldsack.bsky.social from @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social is visiting the Causality Group at RC Trust, invited by Alexander Marx (@a-marx.bsky.social), Chair of Causality group and Professor of Statistics. 🔗 rc-trust.ai/news/news-de...

My thoughts on the recent M8.8 earthquake sequence and tsunami, with my NZ colleague John Townend @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social @earthquakes.au @monashuniversity.bsky.social theconversation.com/kamchatka-ea...

Maria Rabino-Neira, a PhD student at our Faculty of Law, is off to Harvard Law School thanks to a Fulbright NZ scholarship, where she will conduct research into humanitarian legal protection. At Harvard Law School, Maria will join the Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (PILAC).

Over 200 staff, students and alumni, including Vice-Chancellor Nic Smith, dug in for Growing our Future, planting 2,400 natives in Ohariu Valley in late July. Now in its fifth year, the project supports biodiversity research and kaitiakitanga, with 20,000 trees in the ground and counting. 🌱

Poor-quality data, skewed evidence, half-baked findings—it’s the science of bad science. But with AI gaining the capacity to audit published research, dodgy results may be more likely to be picked up in future, say Alexander Kaurov, from Te Herenga Waka, and Naomi Oreskes, from Harvard University.

VUW's Dr Alex Beattie explains to CapsuleNZ why we are seeing emerging subcultures within generations that are keen to bring landlines back to life.

The mass arrival of Weddell seals outside Scott Base is a sign that high summer has likely arrived on the continent. Basking seals are among the key tohu (signs) observed by researchers exploring a potential Māori lunar and environmental calendar, or maramataka, for Antarctica.

An independent reference group set up by the NZ Government recommended a 20-year transition period to stop natural storm and flood-related government buy-outs for homeowners. Here's VUW's Jonathan Boston on this "morally bankrupt" policy change: www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

VUW's Dr Ian Schipper has just returned from using a double-hulled waka to reach volcanoes in the Solomon Islands. He spoke to @RadioNZ's Saturday morning about how his team gathered valuable data from gas emissions there.

Prof Ros Dixon gives the Borrin lecture at @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social law school on Polyvocal Constitutionalism.

Spacecraft scattered throughout the solar system keep tabs on the solar wind, but the measurements are dotted with data gaps. How can scientists prevent these gaps from biasing their studies of the solar wind? aasnova.org/2025/07/09/m... @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social 🔭🧪

In April, Robyn Cockburn received an Active Champion for Equity (ACE) award from the Oceania National Olympic Committee. The award recognised Robyn’s mahi founding and facilitating Wāhine Toa, a sports leadership programme for women across New Zealand and Oceania.

Recent PhD graduate Dr Lloyd Martin was interviewed recently on Radio NZ about his research into alternative education provision for young people. He says spending more on alternative education would be an investment for society.

The judges’ brief for the annual Post Gold Awards is always to find the most inspiring local businesses—the ones that take off, generate cool ideas, and look out for people. So, it’s not surprising that our alumni won big at this year’s awards ceremony.

Great talk by Anna Miller of @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social all about the absolute monster Whakamaru eruption #iavcei2025

Head down to Te Marae in Te Papa Tongarewa each week from 12.15 pm - 1.15 pm from 7 July to 8 September (then MEOW and Circa from 16 to 29 September), and you will find real live writers telling stories to one another about how they create their work, in the Writers on Mondays series.

We recently hosted Mark Amery from RNZ's Culture 101 at the Miramar Creative Centre, where he donned "robot pyjamas," and learned how the MCC is inspiring the next generation of filmmakers from Raqi Syed and recent grad Jun Huang.

The saga of the school lunch programme has generated plenty of headlines about inedible meals, but it’s also provided “a window into the wider debate about the politics of ‘fiscal responsibility’ and austerity politics,” says Dr Ian Lovering, a lecturer in International Relations at Te Herenga Waka.

Mina Zarei Sanabadi combines her real-world marketing experience and work at LitMaps while studying for her PhD. Mina’s doctoral research looks at how digital humans, such as avatars or virtual assistants, can help people collaborate more effectively with AI systems.

In his years as a builder, Daven Candy says he had to “work with timber saturated in chemical preservatives, adhesives riddled with dangerous compounds, and paints that leave behind a legacy of microplastics”. The experience motivated him to return to complete his Master of Architecture degree.

Three VUW PhD students are heading to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in California for a once-in-a-lifetime space scholarship. Taran, Sofie, and Mark will spend 3 months tackling cutting-edge space research, from lunar rovers to the Big Bang.

Te Herenga Waka, in collaboration with Royal Society Te Apārangi delivered Powering Potential ki Pōneke, a three-day science and innovation programme for 45 rangatahi from across the Wellington region.

Alumna Monica Gruber believes that it’s crucial for environmental stewardship to be championed by people who have a lived connection to the region they are supporting. She hopes that this scholarship will encourage more Pasifika students to enter a career in environmental or ecological sciences.

The Wiri Project brings together the disciplines of Psychology, Computer Science, Theatre Studies, and Design from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, to develop a machine-learning tool that will help game developers create animated characters with more emotional depth.

Nelson councillor Campbell Rollo was “stunned” after a deepfake video showing him firing a gun was posted online. Dr Andrew Lensen, our AI programme director, said it was surprising to see deepfakes reach local politics, as they’re usually targeted at national figures.

Three PhD students have been awarded prestigious New Zealand Space Scholarships. Congratulations to Mark Bishop, Sofie Claridge, and Taran John, who will intern at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, contributing to world-leading NASA space missions.

Creative writer Dr Abby Letteri has always loved horses and writing. But it wasn't until she was locked down on her farm, contemplating how much humans impacted the way they lived, that she decided to put her great loves together. Kathryn Ryan from Radio NZ talks to her.

We're proud to support @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social in protecting the Southern Royal Albatross, one of the world’s largest seabirds. Airbus Foundation donated satellite HR imagery + AI will spot nests, track numbers & monitor breeding on remote NZ islands. connectedconservation.foundation/projects/sou...

Comedian Dai Henwood and NZSL expert Dr David McKee are among the fifteen staff and alumni from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington named in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours.

Dr Ratu Mataira graduated with his PhD from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington in 2022, and soon after founded his company OpenStar. He aims to be the first in the world to achieve the holy grail of energy generation: nuclear fusion.

Philosophy professor and bird photographer Edwin Mares stood in a mud puddle for nearly an hour to get a shot of an owl with its eyes open. AI could have generated a similar image—and saved his boots from getting muddy—but Edwin asks whether the image would have the same value.

Join Professor Ben Ruck for an inaugural lecture exploring superconducting computers, semiconductors, magnets, and other fun with physics. Registrations are essential: vuw.eventsair.com/inaugural-le...

Episode 64. Chat on the state of Women's Sports with Erin Roxburgh, New Zealand Handballer, Deputy Chair of Women in Sports Aotearoa and Sports Management Lecturer at @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social Out on all major podcast platforms smoothbrainsociety.com/2025/05/15/6... #women #Sports #NewZealand

Bontia Bio is developing a new nature-based product to help keep pets safe from fleas and ticks, based on technology developed at the University's Ferrier Research Institute.

Alumnus Elijah Pue welcomed a crowd of over 1000 people to celebrate the opening of Ngā Mokopuna, as emcee of the event. He reflects in this piece on how he learned to be Māori at Te Herenga Waka.