Since 2006, Ako Aotearoa has been a government-funded organisation committed to supporting the country’s tertiary sector educators be the best they can be for the learners' success. In June 2023, we secured the bid of the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence Fund from Tertiary Education Commission. The Fund allows $500,000 per year for the AARIA investment from 2023.

AARIA Fund seeks to contribute to systems change for the tertiary education sector and more equitable learner outcomes for innovative, ako centred research projects. We aim to contribute to:

equitable outcomes for Māori, Pacific and neurodiverse ākonga
a response to current global and local issues of importance, e.g. technological advances for instance A.I. and online learning
improved systems and processes to support best practice tertiary education that focus on whole of organisational leadership and change to deliver the outcomes above, including organisational culture and design, the use of data to support planning and action and review, and the connection between the organisation and its wider partners (such as iwi, industry and community).

Webinar focus:

At this presentation, Dr. Marvin Hao Wu will provide more information on AARIA Fund and discuss how AARIA could impact foundation education and could be of interest to the community.

Presenter: Dr Marvin Hao Wu, Programme Manager, Research and Innovation, Ako Aotearoa

Dr. Marvin Hao Wu oversees the Research and Innovation portfolio of Ako Aotearoa (AARIA), to ensure the effective strategic planning, decision making, and management of research projects, and contribute to team leadership and stakeholder relationship management (commenced May 2023). Since the successful launch of AARIA Commissioning Funding Round in September 2023 with six new research projects being funded, Dr. Wu and his team are working to implement the AARIA Contestable Funding Round in March 2024, with a preliminary budget of $250,000.

Previously, Marvin held several roles with University of Auckland, including Research Programme Manager (Liggins Institute), Senior Research Programme Coordinator (Faculty of Medical and Health Science), Research Programme Coordinator (Faculty of Arts), with a strong background in research and portfolio management.

This webinar is offered free of charge.

If you're not already a member, you're invited to join the Manako Community of Practice, here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/alnacc