Summer Scholarships Projects

APPLICATIONS CLOSE 26 AUGUST at 5pm, no late applications will be accepted. Each scholarship is valued at $5000

Offers and payment information
Offers will be made from mid September and will have to be accepted by October 10 2011. Do not be concerned if other people receive offer before you have heard back.

Students and project leaders can negotiate start dates for the project and length of breaks over Christmas (all projects must be of at least 400 hours). Projects are to start between October 17 and November 21 2011. All scholarships must be completed and the final report submitted by February 24 2012.

Projects are listed below according to the College or Research Centre they are based in; a number of projects are also co-funded by external providers and these are listed separately.

College of Arts

Aotahi: School of Maori and Indigeneous Studies
2 Investigating the feasibility of a Maori speaking community (PDF, 398KB)
3 Literature review of indigenous research methodologies(PDF, 315KB)
4 Maori resiliency in the face of urban devastation (PDF, 385KB)
5 Rugby world cup commentaries in Maori (PDF, 343KB)
6 Te Reo Maori beyond the linguistic advantage (PDF, 252KB)
7 Maori Ngai Tahu youth uptake of te reo Maori (PDF, 461KB)

Art History and Theory
8 The Ngarita Johnstone collection (PDF, 51KB)
9 The University of Canterbury art collection online(PDF, 138KB)

English
10 Christchurch Theatre Project (PDF, 304KB)

History
11 Cataloguing Victoria League WWI photographs (PDF, 263KB)
12 Christchurch urban history (PDF, 281KB)

Media and Communication
13 Comparative analysis examining the media constructed identity of Samoa (PDF, 305KB)
14 The social history of a radio station (PDF, 112KB)

Music
15 CAN Music a chord in a broken community (PDF, 380KB)

Philosphy
16 The Ethics of earthquake prediction (PDF, 85KB)
17 A naturalistic solution to the sorites paradox (PDF, 381KB)
18 A new theory about the content of thought (PDF, 217KB)

Social and Political Sciences
19 Understanding youth attitudes to freedom, agency and sustainability (PDF, 378KB)
20 Rethinking resilience children and disasters (PDF, 199KB)
21 Evaluating the Antarctic Treaty System as an intergovernmental organisation (PDF, 266KB)
23 Understanding rural development in China (PDF, 303KB)
24 The Christchurch quakes examining effects of media (PDF, 88KB)
25 The Christchurch quakes interface between science, engineering, public understanding (PDF, 89KB)
26 Young women’s stories about community action after the earthquakes (PDF, 264KB)
83 Christchurch earthquake stories bilingual interviewer (PDF, 299KB)

IRL and Social and Political Sciences (Journalism)
22 Science communication for a CRI (PDF, 199KB)

Theatre and Film Studies
27 Performance research project (PDF, 182KB)

College of Business and Economics     

Accountancy and Information Systems
30 Audit report third party liability disclaimers (PDF, 289KB)
31 Analysis of water utilization reporting by New Zealand corporate entities (PDF, 302KB)
32 Leadership in CSR reporting by CPA Australia (PDF, 296KB)
33 Using IFRS accounting for assessing financial risk of firms (PDF, 44KB)

Economics and Finance
34 Institutional factors on asset market price bubble formation (PDF, 92KB)
35 Insurance and risky investment decisions in a unified model (PDF, 264KB)
36 Insurance and savings decisions in a unified model (PDF, 208KB)

Management
37 Classifying puzzle difficulty (PDF, 301KB)
38 Web based application to collect data about rogo puzzle difficulty (PDF, 306KB)
39 Engagement and retention of volunteer workers (PDF, 277KB) 
40 Optimising urban rural water allocation under uncertainty (PDF, 277KB)
41 Testing methods for allocating fresh water using deterministic optimisation (PDF, 107KB)
42 Meta-analysis of the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage conservation (PDF, 218KB) 
43 Smoke-free legislation in New Zealand (PDF, 305KB)
44 Assessing the impact of natural disasters on interrelationships (PDF, 378KB)
45 Role of community groups in post-disaster relocation (PDF, 369KB)
46 Does a major disaster Influence the Zone of Tolerance in a customer relationship(PDF, 415KB)
47 Exploring the impact of the Canterbury earthquake on restaurants (PDF, 211KB)
48 Initiating and engaging in community service provision – The Student Volunteer Army (PDF, 277KB)
49 An investigation of Canterbury service providers response strategy (PDF, 119KB)

National Centre for Research on Europe
50 Re-tracing Europe the 1970s and 1980s (PDF, 157KB)

College of Education

Education Studies and Human Development
51 Review of experimental research into effective classroom teaching practices (PDF, 147KB)

Litteracies and Arts in Education
52 What makes for success for international postgraduate students in education? (PDF, 59KB)
53 Children discuss their synaesthesia (PDF, 305KB)

Maori and Cultural Studies in Education
54 Assessing proficiency in te reo Maori (PDF, 301KB)
55 Motivation and Maori language role models for Maori youth (PDF, 342KB)
56 Review of literature in Maori immersion and bilingual teaching and learning (PDF, 300KB)
57 Culturally responsive practice for discerning teachers (PDF, 260KB)

Health Sciences
58 Development of a questionnaire to assess risk factors and recognition of melanoma (PDF, 337KB)
59 The impact of social and lifestyle changes on the incidence of breast cancer in New Zealand (PDF, 25KB)

College of Engineering

Chemical and Process Engineering
60 Faster cleaning of protein deposits through enhanced swelling (PDF, 210KB)
61 Gas cleaning with gas absorption and desorption using biodiesel as liquid solvent (PDF, 231KB)
62 Gasification of biomass-coal blends (PDF, 231KB)
63 Fermentation strategy for the production of high cell density cultures of Omega 3 (PDF, 311KB)
64 Screening, isolation and identification of Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids bacteria (PDF, 268KB)

IRL and Chemical and Process Engineering
65 Development of prototype hydrogen water splitting systems (PDF, 295KB)

Civil and Natural Resources Engineering
66 Stormwater monitoring, modelling and mitigation (M3) for the Chirstchurch rebuild (PDF, 67KB)
67 The fatigue behaviour of asphalt mixes (PDF, 209KB)
68 Energy dissipation devices for post tensioned timber buildings (PDF, 278KB)
69 Enhanced pitcher irrigation using urine and wood ash fertilizers (PDF, 304KB)
70 Fatigue behaviour modelling of different hot mix asphalt mixes (PDF, 209KB)  
71 Influence of the excavation damage zone (EDF) on rock fall hazard (PDF, 263KB)
72 Post tensioned walls using cross laminated timber (PDF, 67KB)
73 Thermal properties of mdf at different temperature (PDF, 39KB)
74 Transverseley post tensioned timber bridges (PDF, 64KB)
75 Treatment of Lyttleton contaminated sediment (PDF, 80KB)
76 Mechanical behaviour of a jointed rock mass and sensitivity to the fracture system (PDF, 264KB)
77 Aging effects on seismic performance of Christchurch bridges (PDF, 371KB)
78 Dissipators for earthquake (PDF, 217KB)
79 Mesh reinforced concrete performance (PDF, 208KB)
80 Burning characters of mdf at different radiative heat fluxes (PDF, 303KB)
260 Modelling the hydrology of mountain catchments using TOPNET (PDF, 87KB)

Computer Science and Software Engineering
81 Parallel implementation of the maximum subarray algorithm (PDF, 303KB)
82 Converting non parallel discrete event simulators in massively parallel ones (PDF, 222KB)

Electrical and Computer Engineering
84 Integration of a microcontroller based drive for a brushless electric motor (PDF, 256KB)
85 Design of a microcontroller based triac starting circuit for a brushless electric motor (PDF, 299KB)
86 Development of a gimbal frame for testing of a sounding rocket (PDF, 211KB) 
87 Development of a low cost inertial guidance system for a solid fuel powered rocket (PDF, 302KB)
88 Hardware implementation of the bright spot algorithm (BSA) (PDF, 229KB)
89 Oxygen sensors for lab on a chip devices (PDF, 325KB)
90 The design and construction of a prototype optical-acoustic scanner to analyse wood quality (PDF, 57KB)
91 Wind speed characterization and camera sensing investigation using large kites (PDF, 107KB)
92 A mimic dual port light transmission system (PDF, 382KB)
93 Power quality predictions of a swift wind turbine for a range of weather conditions (PDF, 51KB)
94 An electrical impedance biofeedback instrument for swallowing rehabilitation (PDF, 303KB)
95 Fault location on electric power distribution lines hardware development (PDF, 208KB)
96 Fault location on electric power distribution lines software development (PDF, 223KB)

Forestry
97 Review and classification of codes of practice for forest operations (PDF, 280KB)
98 Acoustic measurement of wood properties of pine and eucalyptus in a spacing experiment (PDF, 377KB)
99 Deriving leaf area index estimates for native tree species (PDF, 217KB)
100 Evaluating the economic benefits of improving corewood (PDF, 134KB)
101 Improving wood quality: extractives in wood (PDF, 208KB)
102 LiDAR technology for forestry applications (PDF, 228KB)
103 Modelling use of forests for rockfall protection in the Port Hills (PDF, 225KB)
104 Perceptions of use of wood for structural applications in non residential buildings (PDF, 123KB)
105 Pilot screening of eucalyptus wood quality using optical acoustic tools (EEE) (PDF, 70KB)
106 Studying the growth of durable eucalypts in New Zealand (PDF, 135KB)
107 Testing predicted values for soil depth and available water (PDF, 66KB)

Human Interface Technology Laboratory NZ
108 Construction of a cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) (PDF, 218KB)
109 Development of a LEGO minifigure taxonomy (PDF, 303KB)
110 Development of a virtual reality based earthquake simulator (PDF, 214KB)
111 Improving face identification with genealogical data (PDF, 221KB)
112 MARS function graphical user interface development (PDF, 281KB)
113 New interaction techniques for an interactive augmented reality system with Kinect (PDF, 338KB)
114 Usability evaluation of clinician locator system (PDF, 39KB)  
115 View morphing (PDF, 26KB) 
116 Computer games educational entertainment (PDF, 168KB)
117 Development of remote collaboration software (PDF, 219KB)
118 Development of immersive 3D application software (PDF, 219KB)
119 Virtual reality room for Len Lye’s Universe Walk (PDF, 78KB)

Mathematics and Statistics
120 MARS imaging computational methods for material decomposition (PDF, 330KB)
121 Numerical tables in the history of mathematics (PDF, 261KB)

Mechanical Engineering
122 3D printing of porous scaffolds for tissue engineering (PDF, 107KB)
123 Contact line dynamics in the presence of solid occlusions (PDF, 218KB)
124 Development of marine turbine for Sentosa Walkway at Singapore (PDF, 220KB)
125 Model based glycemic control in the ICU and NICU (PDF, 281KB)
126 Optimising electrical performance of energy materials using finite elements (PDF, 273KB)
128 The collective dynamics of Christchurch's CBD subject to earthquake inputs (PDF, 122KB)
129 Wing flutter dynamics of a ww1 bi plane(PDF, 100KB)
130 Acoustic emission testing and sensor development for monitoring total hip joint implants (PDF, 310KB)
131 Assessment of diagnostic indicators of wear and loosening of joint replacement implants (PDF, 314KB)
132 Detection of breast cancer by analysis of surface vibrations with (DIET) screening (PDF, 329KB)

IRL and Mechanical Engineering
133 Nitrogen Dewar characterisation and cryogenic refrigeration support (PDF, 352KB)
134 Analysis of wave energy conversion system (PDF, 217KB)

Mechanical Engeering, Chemistry and Geological Science
127 Silica scaling chemistry in geothermal power plants (PDF, 171KB)

Wireless Research Centre
135 Development of a real-time USRP based MIMO software receiver (PDF, 311KB)
136 Using codes to resolve power issues in Multi Carrier systems (PDF, 65KB)
137 Radio propagation through fire (PDF, 114KB)

Wireless Research Centre and Tait Electronics
138 Content centric networking performance for wireless public safety networks (PDF, 307KB)
139 Effect of channel estimation quality on link performance for 3G broadband (PDF, 349KB)
140 Modelling of single frequency network for 3G broadband public safety applications (PDF, 294KB)

Wireless Research Centre and Cam Ent
141 RFID for dairy farm automation (PDF, 214KB)

School of Law

142 Relocation disputes following a natural disaster (PDF, 105KB)
143 A critical analysis on extending the 1991 Resource Management Act (PDF, 385KB)
144 Natural disasters and the law in New Zealand (PDF, 222KB)
145 Earthquakes, floods and the doctrine of frustration of contract (PDF, 268KB)  
146 Relocation disputes following a natural disaster (PDF, 91KB)
147 Earthquakes and large scale floods impact on tenanted property (PDF, 259KB)   
148 Earthquakes and large scale floods resource management issues (PDF, 269KB)    
149 A Study of the media experience of reporting the Christchurch earthquakes (PDF, 219KB)

College of Science

Biological Sciences
150 Botanic pollinators in action (PDF, 382KB)
151 Characterisation of the sloughy cell separation mutant in Arabidopsis thaliana (PDF, 377KB)
152 Do F-actin rearrangements underlie penetrative growth (PDF, 210KB)
153 Effects of earthquake disturbance on the distribution of estuarine organisms (PDF, 208KB)
154 Has earthquake damage altered plant insect interactions (PDF, 209KB)
155 Iberia vs Albion Bluebells of Christchurch (PDF, 302KB)
156 Aquatic insects and changes in water chemistry and food resource quality (PDF, 337KB)
157 Larval supply and marine community dynamics (PDF, 224KB)
158 Investigating food webs in groundwater communities (PDF, 223KB)
159 Oxidised albumin as a trigger for inflammatory marker production by macrophage (PDF, 377KB)
160 Rehabilitation of iconic fish populations habitat selectivity and use by whitebait (PDF, 171KB)
161 Role of diversity in post-disturbance production on coastal reefs (PDF, 325KB)
162 How GMO sterility strategies may backfire (PDF, 172KB)
163 Post-earthquake dynamics in an urban estuary, the Avon Heathcote (PDF, 203KB)
164 Transcription termination in archaea (PDF, 26KB)
165 Visual capability of red cod (PDF, 71KB)
166 A common algae in Canterbury can Vaucheria be used as a water quality indicator (PDF, 372KB)
167 Australasian geminivirology (PDF, 219KB)
168 Bioinformatic prediction of toxin antitoxin pairs in eubacterial species (PDF, 303KB) 
169 Is aquatic life any better off in a botanic garden (PDF, 307KB)
170 Nitrate toxicity and its effects on the ecosystem of Canterbury streams (PDF, 26KB)
171 Native plants as proxies for habitat differences between herbivores (PDF, 302KB)
172 The stable isotopic structure of a moa long bone (PDF, 71KB)
173 Eating with your mouth closed investigating the unique dining habits of the hagfish (PDF, 266KB)
174 Investigating accelerated evolution under herbicide selection (PDF, 260KB)
175 Pollination biology of a sunbird pollinated tree Anthonotha noldeae (PDF, 85KB)
176 The role of facial markings and gestures in putty nosed monkeys (PDF, 69KB)
281. How many ways can you build an ecological network (PDF, 61KB)
282. The relative importance of ecological and evolutionary factors in determining interactions (PDF, 27KB)

Chemistry
177 Atmospheric chemistry of greenhouse gases and ozone depleting substances (PDF, 300KB)
178 Classically quantum (PDF, 302KB)
179 Mechanistic investigations into the TEMPO / BAIB oxidation (PDF, 208KB)
180 Molecular meccano: illuminating hosts for accommodating guests (PDF, 414KB)
181 Precious synergy gold containing mixed metal clusters as key components of catalysts (PDF, 109KB)
182 Study of titanium dioxide nanoparticles synthesised (PDF, 124KB)
183 Towards brighter TVs synthesis and photophysical properties of luminescent complexes (PDF, 26KB)
184 Novel antibiotic design inhibition of a key enzyme from Neisseria meningitidis (PDF, 164KB)
185 Novel antibiotic design probing the catalytic mechanism of sialic acid synthases (3 students) (PDF, 196KB)
186 Tuning surfaces for controlled fabrication of durable catalysts (PDF, 86KB)
187 Iterative approach to the synthesis of polynuclear triple helicate complexes (PDF, 86KB)
188 When polymer chemistry meets modern mass spectrometry (PDF, 69KB)
189 Determination of gaseous molecular structure of trichlorosilyl isopropyl tert butylphosphine (PDF, 376KB)
190 A new class of ionic liquid investigating properties for potential applications (PDF, 304KB)
191 A new class of ionic liquid synthesis and properties of salts containing cations (PDF, 303KB)
192 Distribution of cyanobacteria in Canterbury springs (PDF, 379KB)
193 Expanding the grid investigating supramolecular clusters (PDF, 417KB)
194 Photoactivated cytotoxins a new approach to cancer treatment (PDF, 167KB)

Science Commercialization
195 experience initial stages of commercialisation(3 students) (PDF, 285KB)

Communication Disorders
196 Objective measurement of oral preparation of solid foods (PDF, 327KB)

Gateway Antarctica
197 Diagnosis of New Zealand’s ice using stereo time lapse cameras (PDF, 386KB)
198 What values do people associate with Antarctica (PDF, 26KB)

Geography
199 The making of indigenous personhood (PDF, 51KB)
200 Intertidal sedimentation and topography of the Banks Peninsula harbours (PDF, 257KB)
201 Mapping the New Zealand merino clothing industry (PDF, 318KB)
202 Identifying the potential of a city to grow its own food with GIS (PDF, 151KB)
203 The impact of the Canterbury earthquakes on Ngai Tahu landscapes (PDF, 108KB)
204 Understanding the development of the New Zealand merino clothing industry (PDF, 210KB)
205 A study of spatial distribution of microorganisms in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica (PDF, 210KB)

Geological Sciences
206 Developing NZ specific procedures for Schmidt Hammer exposure age dating (SHD) (PDF, 222KB)
207 Radon flux surveys on recently active faults(PDF, 78KB)
208 Glacial periods in New Zealand's North Island(PDF, 348KB)
209 Analysing the geotechnical adherence properties of volcanic ash (PDF, 340KB)
210 Inherited E W oriented basement faults in the Castle Hill basin (PDF, 208KB)
211 Developing educational materials for volcanology of Tarawera volcano (PDF, 28KB)
212 Tree ring stable isotopes as climate chance proxies (PDF, 97KB)
213 The statistical variation of soil gas flux survey methods in active geological environments (PDF, 143KB)
214 Petrology of the Nga Awa Pura andesite (PDF, 125KB)
215 Reconstruction of the geology of Wells RK1 RK11 and RK12 (PDF, 236KB)
216 Emergency management, decision making and protocols during a volcanic hazard simulation (PDF, 222KB)

Geospatial Research Centre
217 Indoor navigation using artificial light encoding (PDF, 263KB)

Physics
270. Probing spectroscopic signatures in globular cluster stars (PDF, 118KB)
271. R Coronae Borealis stars (PDF, 183)
272. A new file format for MARS Camera and Medipix chip readouts (PDF, 65KB)
273. Image quality measures from GaAs Medipix3 (PDF 125KB)
274. Modelling of a laser interferometer in microbeam radiotherapy (PDF, 102KB)
275. Integration of a 3D vision system for patient positioning in radiotherapy (PDF, 50KB)
276. General relativistic models of galaxies and clusters (PDF,49KB)
277. Gravitational Microlensing (PDF, 50KB)
278. Dynamics of trapped excitons in lanthanide material probed by laser spectroscopy (PDF, 104KB)
280. Interpretation of science for tourist visiting the Mt John observatory (PDF, 97KB)

Psychology
218 At what age NZ children first receive a cell phone and for what reasons (PDF, 320KB)
219 Christchurch business location decisions following the earthquakes (PDF, 271KB)
220 Quantity and quality of web based advice to parents regarding pediatric sleep problems (PDF, 100KB)
221 Randomized Clinical Trial of a micronutrient formula in the treatment of ADHD (PDF, 51KB)
222 Exploring new targets for medication development in drug addiction (PDF, 319KB)
223 Neurogenesis in the adult brain role in behaviour and cognition (PDF, 309KB)
224 The cognitive load of searching using remotely operated aerial vehicles (PDF, 114KB)

Research Centres

New Zealand Institute of Language Brain and Behaviour
225 Christchurch earthquake stories Maori Interviewer (PDF, 302KB)
226 Family members rehabilitation goals for their relatives with aphasia (PDF, 380KB)
227 Linguistic change in northern England (PDF, 387KB)
228 Manual verification of spoken corpus segmentation boundaries (PDF, 220KB)
229 Perception of sound change in Maori (PDF, 462KB)
230 Role models for younger speakers of Maori (PDF, 342KB)
231 Shortland Street an examination of race bias via televised non verbal behaviour (PDF, 340KB)
232 Speech adaptation in aphasia (PDF, 260KB)
233 The influence of social factors on speech alignment and divergence (PDF, 61KB)
234 Christchurch earthquake stories (PDF, 299KB)

Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management
235 Irrigation efficiency under Northwester storm conditions (PDF, 227KB)
236 A hydrological budget for Lake Forsyth Wairewa (PDF, 235KB)
237 Fertilizer trace elements in sediments of Lake Forsyth Wairewa (PDF, 315KB) 

Biomolecular Interaction Centre
238 Enzyme evolution (318KB)
239 Metal preferences of the enzymes KDO8PS and kiwifruit dehydroquinate synthase (PDF, 272KB)
240 A structural and functional study of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (PDF, 326KB)
241 Application of the IZON Nano to viruses (PDF, 306KB)
242 Biophysical assessment of the stability of commercial Hb samples (PDF, 217KB)
243 Development of a BioAssay for Angiotensinogen to identify women prone to pre eclampsia (PDF, 305KB)
244 Development of a haemoglobin purification process (PDF, 221KB)
245 Experimental study of bio-adhesives from New Zealand native bull kelp Durvillaea antarctica (PDF, 228KB)
246 Oxidative stability of commercial haemoglobin controls and their derivatives (PDF, 208KB)
247 Molecular interactions in the spliceosome over evolutionary timescales. (2 students) (PDF, 68KB)

Blue Fern High Performance Computing Unit
248 Computational models of vasoreativity in diabetes and hypertension (PDF, 218KB)
249 Blood flow in the brain a link to Alzheimer’s disease (PDF, 307KB)
250 Numerical models of arterial spin labelling evaluating the blood flow in the brain (PDF, 306KB)
251 Large scale networks of nonlinear oscillators (PDF, 253KB)         

GNS Science
252 Mineral and chemical variation in geothermal veins (PDF, 267KB)
253 Designing magnetic devices from nanomaterials (PDF, 220KB)

Landcare
254 Toxicity of environmental samples; data analysis and modelling of biological responses (PDF, 36KB)

NZi3
255 Airframe performance testing for multi rotor unmanned aerial systems (PDF, 298KB)
256 Testing of environmental effects on multi rotor Unmanned aerial systems (PDF, 86KB)

Scion
257 Projects in collaboration with Scion (next generation biomaterials) (PDF, 398KB)