Excellent energy bringing together NZ’s Horizon Europe National Contact Points, #TeamEurope @universitiesnz & Science NZ 🇪🇺🤝🇳🇿 NZ is flying with 22 successful partnerships. Discussions were focused and forward-looking — sharing successes & new opportunities
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#StrongerTogether
Keynote Speaker Announcement | Pacific Academy of Sciences Inaugural Congress 2026
We are pleased to announce Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield KNZM CMInstD as a Keynote Speaker at our upcoming Pacific Academy of Sciences Inaugural Congress 2026, to be held 16–18 February 2026 in Apia, Samoa, at Taumeasina Island Resort.
Sir Ashley is a distinguished public health leader and physician with over 25 years’ experience in public policy and health leadership. He trained in medicine at the University of Auckland and specialised in public health medicine, with a career spanning senior leadership roles in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, including at the World Health Organization in Geneva.
From June 2018 to July 2022, Sir Ashley served as Director-General of Health for New Zealand, leading the country’s health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. His leadership during this period was widely recognised for its commitment to science-led decision-making, public trust, and equity.
In recognition of his service, Sir Ashley was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM) in the 2023 New Year’s Honours for services to public health. He is currently Chief Executive of PHF Science and Professor at the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health, with professional interests focused on non-communicable disease prevention and control and addressing health inequities.
His keynote will contribute to the Congress theme, Harnessing the Knowledge of the Pacific, offering reflections on leadership, public health, and evidence-informed policy across Pacific and global contexts.
Event Details:
Pacific Academy of Sciences Inaugural Congress 2026
16–18 February 2026 | Taumeasina Island Resort, Apia, Samoa
Registration is free, with limited places available.
Register here: /events/pas-congress-2026
#PacificAcademyofSciences #PAS2026 #PacificScience #PublicHealth #PacificKnowledge
We’ve teamed up with our good mates at @puhorostem_academy to offer 4 x $5,000 scholarships to Te Urunga Pae tauira! 🎓
➡️ APPLY NOW (LINK IN BIO) ⬅️
These scholarships are open to tauira Māori studying at any tertiary institution in Aotearoa, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
We’re looking for tauira who are passionate about the research areas and industries that PHF Science serves and are currently studying one or more of the following subjects:
🧬Data Science
🍀Environmental Science
🕵🏻♂️Forensic Science
🩻Health Science
🌀Mātauranga Māori
📊Social Sciences
What’s in it for you?
✅$5,000 cash contribution towards your studies
✅Mentorship from PHF Science’s leading scientists and experts
🗓️Applications close Monday 16 February 2026, get in quick, tauira mā!
Not a part of Te Urunga Pae, our post-secondary school support programme? You can register as part of the scholarship application process.
“Ko ngā mātauranga makaurangi ka kawea tonutia, kia turakina ai ngā aupēhitanga o te wā. Nō roto mai i ngā tātai mātauranga makaurangi heke Iho, ko ngā hua motuhake, ngā hua whakawhanake, nō mai anō tātou e okea ururoatia nei ngā kaupareparenga o te wā. E kore rawa ēnei hekeihotanga e tau noaiho ki te rae, ka titia ki te kukū o te ngākau e whakatangata ai te Iwi Māori.”
“Our ancestral wisdom carries proven pathways to crisis. Embedded within our inter-generational narratives lies a profound knowledge of survival and adaptation, handed down through centuries of overcoming adversity. These traditional narratives don’t just tell us who we are, they show us how to be resilient.”
- Huirama Matatahi
Waahi Paa, Waikato
Pou Urungi, Whiitiki Whakatika
#Whiitikiwhakatika
#TeNiwha
#TeAoMāori
Rain is still consistent through Day 12, but we smash it out anyways!
Today was riddled with excitement - our final IDC workshops and finishing with the IDC presentations, YELLOW taking the win 🌟💛🌻
After our IDC presentations, the students ventured off to their technical visits 🚔✈️🔍
#Forum2026
Tā Ashley Bloomfield speaks on the importance of recognising Mātauranga Māori and how a kotahitanga approach to pandemic responses improves health outcomes for Aotearoa.
#whiitikiwhakatika
#TeNiwha
#TeAoMāori
New technology working in tandem with powerful AI-based software is eliminating the need to send samples for genomic sequencing to distant reference labs—and wait a week for results.
Now, a rough bacterial genome can be sequenced in a hospital or clinic within hours, using a portable harmonica-size genome sequencer and AI.
Click our link in bio to read more about how AI is shaping frontline genomics around the world.
Images courtesy of: PHF Science / Kimberley Kan
Lara Urban
WACCBIP
If you’re harvesting kaimoana this festive season, remember to check the quality of the wai and kai before you jump in. Illnesses from kaimoana can feel like a stomach bug but may be more serious – especially for our more vulnerable whānau. So if you’re feeling off, don’t tough it out, get checked and make sure others are aware.
Stay safe out there e te whānau! Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi o te tau hou🎄
Throwback to our trip down to Pōneke on our Health Science Specialised Pathway Program! 🧬
A little taster of what we got up to visiting three amazing labs who we had the absolute pleasure of touring.🥼
PHF Labs where Una and her scientist colleagues talked us through what they get up to day to day, touching on infectious diseases, population health and precision medicine.
Ferrier Institute where we got to do a small experiment of our own using tree bark from the Solomon Islands which has been used for generations by Solomon Island people to help heal wounds.🧫
Lastly on our final day we visited the Malaghan Institute where we toured their labs and chatted with researchers about their different projects.🔬
Ngā mihi to all the labs that made time for us to come and explore their workplaces and to our rangatahi who came along with us.
Massive mihi to our partnerships
x PHF science x
x Ferrier research Institute x
x Malaghan Institute Medical research
Our kaiputaiao in Poneke welcomed us in with open arms, beautiful kai and clear pathways and avenues for our Rangatahi
We couldn’t have done this without your guys guidance, connection and matauranga
Now being back home our Rangatahi are confident, sharp and ready to lead and shape the future for our whanau
Nga mihi whanau🙌🧬🧫🔬🥼
Tyre & Rubber Recycling spoke to Laura Banasiak, Senior Scientist at PHF Science, about upcoming field tests and versatile new applications for eco-rubber in the latest TRR Video Insight. She details plans for Tyrewise-funded studies and using the material for embankments, drainage layers, and vibration barriers to protect housing near intersections.
You can catch the full episode over on the Tyre & Rubber Recycling Business YouTube channel.
#TyreRecycling #EcoRubber #Innovation #NewZealand #Infrastructure
Laura Banasiak, a Senior Scientist at PHF Science, spoke to TRR Video Insights about a collaborative project with the University of Canterbury developing an eco-rubber seismic-resilient isolation foundation system. Designed to be a cost-effective alternative to expensive base isolations used in hospitals, this system is aimed at residential housing in New Zealand. It uses a seismic dissipation layer made of granulated tyre rubber and gravel (at an optimal 40% rubber mix) and a rubberized concrete raft to reduce earthquake vibrations. Research has also shown minimal leaching from the material.
You can catch the full episode over on the Tyre & Rubber Recycling Business YouTube channel.
#TyreRecycling #EarthquakeResilience #Innovation #NewZealand #EcoRubber
