Otago Graduate Research School

14/10/2026

🎃 Trick-and-Treat at GRS! 30 October, between 10am – 2pm.

Visit our new space – Clocktower 1st floor (through main entrance), meet the team who support candidates and supervisors, learn a little about what we do, and collect a Halloween treat 🍬🍭🍫 – we’ll have GF/DF as well!

😱 Candidates - Choose a Trick ...
• Give your thesis a horror movie title
• Share a PhD ‘survival’ tip
... take a Treat

🦇 Supervisors - Choose a Trick ...
• Give your approach to supervision a horror movie title
• Share a supervisor ‘survival’ tip
... take a Treat

🕸️ Professional staff - Choose a trick ...
• Give your title/role a horror movie title
• Share a tip for candiates or supervisors
... take a Treat

The team will choose the best horror movie title and/or tip from each category for a wee prize.

From the Graduate Research Spook-ool 👻

08/10/2026

Last Tuesday (29 September), the Graduate Research School hosted its second Social Games Night, with around 22 enthusiastic board gamers coming together to test their skills, share a few tall tales, and enjoy spending time as part of our graduate research community.

Unfortunately, we didn’t obtain permission to share photos from the evening, so instead we leave you with a little mystery: What game is being played, and whose hands are those? 🤔

A huge thank you to Nick Baker and Rachel Bates for the time, energy, and enthusiasm they put into organising and running these fantastic social events. Their efforts help create opportunities for graduate researchers to connect, unwind, and build community beyond their research.

Keep an eye out for our next event: Bake Your Thesis 🍰📚, a fun (and delicious!) way to share a little more about your research while showcasing your baking creativity! We can't wait to see what you come up with.

24/09/2026

Big week for the Graduate Research School team! 📦☕🍰

Last week, we enjoyed one final morning tea (with the essential coffee and cake!) in the GRS villa before saying goodbye to a space that has served us well over many years.

This week has been all about boxes, unpacking, and making the move to our new home in the Clocktower. We're excited about the next chapter and look forward to settling into our new surroundings.

Watch this space for photos once we're unpacked and settled in! 🏛️😊

15/09/2026

Some wonderful tips from Karyn Paringatai on building confidence to speak te reo Māori during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. 🌿

Remember, you don't have to be perfect to start speaking. Every word spoken is a step forward. Thank you, Karyn, for sharing practical and encouraging advice that helps make te reo Māori more accessible and gives us the confidence to give it a go. 💛

14/09/2026

Here is a nice and simple way to introduce yourself using your mihi. 😊

Don't worry if you don't know all the Māori words. It's perfectly fine to fill in the gaps using English or another language. The most important thing is sharing who you are, where you're from, and making connections with others.

Give it a go and share your mihi with us! 🌿✨

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1E63sdTDqm/

14/09/2026

Wiki o te Reo Māori - What's on this week at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka?

Te reo Māori will be seen, heard and celebrated across Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka this coming Wiki o te Reo Māori.

07/09/2026

📦🤔 We are on the move!

If you've walked past our GRS offices lately and noticed an unusual number of boxes, puffs of dust, and staff wondering where they packed the coffee mugs, you're not imagining it.

After eight years away, the GRS team is heading back to the Clocktower🏫! We last called it home in 2018, but from 18-24 September you'll find us carefully (and occasionally chaotically) making the move.

Are we excited? Absolutely.
Are we about to discover that some of us have been practising advanced-level office hoarding for the past decade? Quite possibly.
Will someone inevitably label a box "miscellaneous" and regret it later? Almost certainly.

We look forward to settling back into our original home and continuing to support our amazing graduate research community from the heart of campus.

Wish us luck, and if you see someone carrying a suspiciously heavy box while looking lost, it might just be one of us. 📚📦🏛️

03/09/2026

What an incredible evening! We were treated to inspiring and thought-provoking research from our graduate research candidates. There was skilled storytelling, moments of drama, honest reflections on challenging experiences, plenty of laughter, and so much learning along the way. The creativity, courage, and communication skills on display were genuinely awe-inspiring.

A truly memorable showcase of talent, passion, and impact. Better than Netflix! ✨👏

31/08/2026

🩺⏰ The Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is far more than a presentation competition. It challenges researchers to distil years of dedicated study into a compelling three-minute presentation, using just a single slide to communicate the significance and impact of their work.

Join us on 1 September at 5.30pm for the University of Otago Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Grand Final and be inspired by the outstanding research being undertaken across our University.

We're especially proud to have four finalists representing the Division of Health Sciences whānau, showcasing the innovation, passion, and impact of health research at Otago. 🎓✨

31/08/2026

🔬⏰ Can a scientist really distil years of research into just 3 minutes? Join us on 1 September at 5.30pm for the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Grand Final and watch our outstanding graduate researchers. More than a test of research excellence, the competition showcases their ability to communicate complex ideas in ways that are both informative and engaging, bringing science to life for audiences from all backgrounds.

In the Grand Final we have four candidates from the Division of Science whānau

🌟 Research topics span disciplines from across the University, showcasing the remarkable breadth and impact of postgraduate research at Otago.

👏 Come along to support our finalists, celebrate outstanding research, and perhaps discover a new passion or perspective along the way.

We look forward to seeing you there!