Doctoral news

Winners

Warm congratulations to the recipients of the Vice-Chancellor's Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis 2025, who will be honoured at the University's Celebrating Research Excellence awards in October.

The winners are:

• Cam Hoffbeck (Faculty of Science)
• Connor Pearson (Faculty of Engineering and Design)
• Julia Musgrave (Auckland Bioengineering Institute)
• Mark de Hora (Liggins Instiutute)
• Matthew Galloway (Faculty of Arts and Education)

This prize is awarded annually to the five most exceptional theses from the previous year. Criteria for nomination include the demonstrable significance,
originality, contribution and excellence of the thesis.

Of the 498 doctoral degrees awarded by the University of Auckland in 2025, 18 theses were nominated for the Best Doctoral Thesis prize by their faculties / LSRIs and reviewed by the Graduate Research Committee judging panel.

Nominees

Congratulations to all the other nominees for 2025:

• Bobbie-Jo Pene (FMHS): “Achieving a Culture of Whanaungatanga: A kaupapa Māori and grounded theory study exploring Māori relational practices as a strategy to transform acute hospital settings in Aotearoa”
• Hayden Gearing (Faculty of Science): “Heterobimetallic Supramolecular Architectures: Guest Binding Ability and Interactions with Biomolecules”
• Jason Ye (Faculty of Engineering and Design): “Domain Adaptation Using Temporal Relation Knowledge in Cross-user Sensor-based Human Activity Recognition”
• Jennifer Woods (FMHS): “Advancing Equity and Leadership for Māori Registered Nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand: Elements for Success”
• Lauren Hemara (Faculty of Science): “Examining effector requirements, redundancies, and repertoire refinement in the emergent kiwifruit pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. Actinidiae”
• Liam Quinn (Faculty of Science): “Protected Polarization Symmetry Breaking in Kerr Resonators for Random Number Generation and Photonic Ising Machines”
• Naomi Pears-Scown (Faculty of Arts and Education): “Dusty Origin Stories of Arts Therapy in Aotearoa, New Zealand”
• Olivia Gold (FMHS): “Determinants of carotid body sensitivity: the accelerator-brake hypothesis”
• Petrus van Blerk (Faculty of Engineering and Design): “Mechanised Cement-Bound Macadam (MCBM): Development and Implementation of a New Heavy-Duty Pavement Design and Construction Technique”
• Shohil Kishore (Faculty of Business and Economics): “Temporal Dynamics of Social Media Trace Data: Computationally Intensive Theorising to Explore Technologically-Mediated Features, Affordances and Innate Psychological Needs Satisfaction”
• Sohan Ghodla (Faculty of Science): “Impact of companion and surrounding environment on stars and black holes”
• Victoria Munn (Faculty of Arts and Education): “Gold, Fox, Jet, Snow: Colouring the Hair in Early Modern Europe”
• Yan Xie (Faculty of Arts and Education): “The Evolution and Enactment of CT Policy Initiatives in the Chinese Education Context”
   

Doctoral candidate Dougie ‘Atiola’s journey into research began in a hospital in Tonga. At the age of 14, he was hospitalised with meningitis, which shaped his understanding of healthcare. Now he is pursuing his PhD in Biomedical Science, specialising in genetics and metabolic conditions in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology.

“If my journey helps even one young Pacific person believe they belong in research,” he says, “then the work I’m doing is serving its purpose.”

Read more about Dougie and his research in Pacific genetics scholar driven to improve community health outcomes.

Doctoral candidate Amanda SullivanLee, who grew up in the USA, is mapping the history and contemporary implications of indigenous Tongan adoption (pusiaki), which has traditionally sustained openness, movement and continued ties between birth and adoptive families. Her research is grounded in Pacific storywork, talanoa and oral history.

“Talking about adoption is intellectually challenging – and it’s also emotionally challenging,” says Amanda. “As an adopted Pacific person raised outside the Pacific, returning to indigenous frameworks has been both rigorous and healing."

Explore Amanda's story in Research sheds new light on pusiaki - Tongan adoption. 

Justine Skilling, a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Arts and Education, has focused her research on collaborative efforts to make the South Auckland suburb of Māngere greener, guided by Te Ao Māori principles.

She hopes her findings will inform future policy and encourage investment in indigenous-led, community-driven environmental work, where the results will benefit not just this generation, but those that follow.

Learn more about Justine and her PhD research in Making Māngere green again.

Doctoral candidate Saleh Albalawi is part of a new 15-month study on how Gazans have managed to keep education going amid ongoing bombardment, death and displacement. As a Palestinian and former Gaza resident, the project is close to his heart.

“This is not just an academic topic for me, it’s part of my life, memory, and identity," he says. "We hope to document the courage of teachers who continue educating under extremely difficult conditions and to ensure that their voices and experience reach the world and policymakers, with the aim of improving their situation.”

Find out more about Saleh's research in Caught in the crossfire: education in Gaza.