Science New Zealand 2026 Awards

The Science New Zealand Awards celebrate the people whose research and innovation makes a difference for New Zealand – and, often, the world. The finalists and winners represent the best of New Zealand’s scientific talent, growing our economy, looking after our environment and creating a fairer New Zealand.

The theme of this year’s awards was ‘Impacts for Aotearoa New Zealand’, recognising the research driving innovation and tangible outcomes that benefit New Zealanders.

Researchers often collaborate across institutes and with industry to tackle important challenges and grow opportunities for New Zealand, pooling their knowledge, expertise, experience and insights. The awards recognise research teams that include partners from communities, business, iwi, and local and central government.

This year's Science New Zealand Awards honoured finalists across five award categories: Collaboration for Impact, Success in Innovation/Commercialisation, Individual/Lifetime Achievement, Early Career Researcher, and Te Tohu Tūhura (Charter a Course for Impact through Partnering with Māori). The Supreme Award winner was chosen from the winners of the five award categories. 

Media

Supreme Award Winner and Winner: Success in Innovation/Commercialisation

Headlining examples of financial success, spinouts, and researchers achieving in innovation and the commercial world.   

GenomNZ (Bioeconomy Science)

GenomNZ Team

 

GenomNZ (said Genom En Zed) is a textbook example of what this award is designed to celebrate — science that has moved from the lab into the commercial world with lasting, measurable results. The Business Unit has developed genomic platforms, genotyping-by-sequencing services, and nationally integrated breeding-value systems that are now industry standards across New Zealand's livestock sector. Their genomic technologies have led to improved productivity, better survival rates, and environmental efficiency over the long term across New Zealand’s economically vital primary sector supporting economic growth and the country’s international reputation.

See the team's video here

Collaboration for Impact

Celebrating how collaboration across the Public Research Organisations leads to material impact for the nation. Awards will demonstrate the strength of PROs as a collective and the connectedness to sector groups and end-users.

Criteria 

  • Has attributes that demonstrate the special capabilities that Science New Zealand members bring to the table. 
  • A product/solution/service/enterprise that adds value, fills a niche, enables greater production, increases efficiency, opens new pathways or insights, and brings the future a step closer.      
  • Achieves success cost-effectively and with little or no negative impact on the environment.   
  • Must be able to demonstrate the project/initiative/entity is delivering tangible impact/benefit for Aotearoa New Zealand.  
  • Shows a commitment to delivering sustainable, repeatable, and measurable growth. 

Winner: Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Team - PHF Science 

Stretococcus

 

This team and collaborators worked in an area of huge impact for New Zealand; IPD causes meningitis, pneumonia, and death, with infants, the elderly, Māori, and Pacifica communities most at risk. The team's evidence, based on world leading science, directly supported PHARMAC's decision to reintroduce an IPD vaccine, leading to substantial reduction in IPD among children under 5, especially young Māori and Pacifica children. 

The team exemplified the collaborative spirit the award celebrates. The IPD team built a genuinely wide-ranging network spanning government, science, and health sectors — including the Ministry of Health's Communicable Diseases team, PHARMAC, the Public Health Agency, the Immunisation Advisory Centre, clinical infectious disease specialists, and academics from both the University of Otago and the University of Auckland. Notably, the collaboration also worked across roles in PHF Science itself with epidemiologists, public health physicians, and microbiology reference laboratory scientists working in concert.  

See the team's video here

Individual / Lifetime Achievement Awards

Criteria

  • An individual who is a current or recently retired employee of a Science New Zealand member, and 
  • has made an outstanding contribution to advancing New Zealand's economic, environmental, social or cultural well-being through:
    • their work over time; or
    • a specific discovery, development or application.

Diana Kappatos - PHF Science

 

Diana Kappatos

 

Diana Kappatos exemplifies exactly what this award is designed to recognise: a long career of exceptional scientific rigour combined with genuine, lasting impact on New Zealand communities. She did not just analyse drugs — she built the systems, forged the partnerships, and worked with communities to make sure her science actually protected people.  

View Diana's video here. 

Early Career Researchers

Recognising the importance of early career researchers for delivering excellent research that benefits Aotearoa New Zealand, and on its promotion and dissemination. Both elements require partnership, engagement with others including the wider community.   

Criteria

  • An individual who has completed their highest research qualification in the past 10 years (minimum qualification is a master's degree).
  • and has made an outstanding contribution to the values and purpose of their entity through their research and engagement with colleagues, partners, and wider community - nationally or globally.

Dr Georgia Grant - Earth Sciences New Zealand

Dr Georgia Grant

 

Georgia has made an impression across all three award criteria: outstanding research excellence, contribution to her organisation and promotion and communication of research. She has published in high impact journals, been involved in internation expeditions to Greeenland and the Antarctic, described by her coworkers as a generous mentor and collaborator, contributing to a high-performing research culture, and been involved with community groups in Northland and the Coromandel. Her all-round contribution at an early stage of her career is what stood out.

See Georgia's video here

Te Tohu Tūhura: Charter a Course for Impact through Partnering with Māori

Celebrating champions of Te Ao Māori and pūtaiao research delivering tangible impact for Aotearoa New Zealand, where the mahi is conducted in genuine partnership with Māori. Impact areas include value generation (economic, environmental, social and cultural), filling an important niche, enabling greater productivity, increasing efficiency or resilience, opening new pathways or insights in pūtaiao, and/or advancing mātauranga Māori.      

Criteria

Teams or individuals who have demonstrated a two-way exchange between pūtaiao and Te Ao Māori (tikanga, reo and/or mātauranga), including through the recognition of kaitiakitanga, and have contributed to a unique Aotearoa New Zealand knowledge set that delivers impact The research process has delivered outcomes that are beneficial to both partners (relational, economic, social and environmental), including through novel benefit sharing arrangements and demonstrated effort to sustain an enduring relationship with Māori. 

Impact areas: 

  • value generation (economic, environmental, social and cultural), 
  • filling an important niche, 
  • enabling greater productivity, 
  • increasing efficiency or resilience, 
  • opening new pathways or insights in pūtaiao 
  • advancing mātauranga Māori. 
  • team dynamics 
  • commitment to Te Tiriti 

Maiangi Taiao Partnership Partnership - Bioeconomy Science Institute 

Maiangi Taiao Partnership

The Maiangi Taiao Partnership shows what becomes possible when science and mātauranga work in genuine partnership, and the value of a relationship that is built on trust over decades rather over a single project. This award celebrates that commitment. Whilst all the finalists had strong research deliverables and were developing strong relationships this work stood out for the depth of the partnership that had developed over time and its contribution to the goals of the iwi, Ngāti Kurī. 

View the team's video here.

Credits

Thank you to the following professionals for their outstanding contributions to the event.