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Riddet Institute The Riddet Institute is a premier national centre for fundamental and strategic scientific research

Congratulations and welcome to our incoming Riddet Institute Postgraduate Association Committee! RIPA is an association ...
01/10/2026

Congratulations and welcome to our incoming Riddet Institute Postgraduate Association Committee!

RIPA is an association run by the postgraduates for postgraduates. They support the postgraduate experience at the Institute, ensuring researchers feel connected, welcomed, and included throughout their PhD journey no matter where they are based across the motu. This committee was voted in at the 2026 Riddet Institute Colloquium to serve across the 2026-2027 year.

Our annual colloquium started off last week with an entrepreneur masterclass run by Massey Ventures for our postgraduate...
27/09/2026

Our annual colloquium started off last week with an entrepreneur masterclass run by Massey Ventures for our postgraduate researchers.

Teams worked on potential case studies including providing adequate nutrition for people using GLP-1s, the "everything pill" that will replace all supplements, diet customisation through an app, and upcycling waste streams into useable proteins.

Each team then pitched their businesses to the "shark tank", explaining why their products or IP will revolutionise the global market.

A lot of fun and learning was had by everyone. Thanks to the team at Massey Ventures Dan Carlisle, Brad Booysen, Ella Moffat, and Dr Ximenita Isabelle Trejo for running a great workshop!

One of the Riddet Institute Colloquium highlights this week included the careers panel where four Riddet Institute alumn...
25/09/2026

One of the Riddet Institute Colloquium highlights this week included the careers panel where four Riddet Institute alumni revealed the extraordinary places their PhD studies have taken them. The panel had a strong message for today’s doctoral researchers: your future is never linear and careers are often unexpected. Business Manager Hannah Ramsay, pictured left, facilitated the panel, from left, New Zealand Food Safety Senior Adviser Dr Feng Ming Chian, Fonterra Senior Research Scientist Dr Siqi Li, Opo Bio co-founder and CEO Dr Olivia Ogilvie, and Massey University Senior Lecturer in Packaging Technology Dr Eli Gray-Stuart.

Our budding entrepreneur's team of Nyasha Makaza, Ushnenya Peiris, Supannikar Pakkethati, Pawanrat Chaisri and Kalmee Ka...
25/09/2026

Our budding entrepreneur's team of Nyasha Makaza, Ushnenya Peiris, Supannikar Pakkethati, Pawanrat Chaisri and Kalmee Kariyawasam take home some chocolate fish from Massey Ventures' Dan Carlisle after winning an Entrepreneurship Workshop team challenge during the Riddet Institute Postgraduate Masterclass yesterday. The workshop, run by Massey Ventures, asked teams to work on business cases for solving current food issues. The winners took on GLP-1 customers and engineering foods suited to their suppressed appetites. The challenge was a highlight of day one of this year's Riddet Institute Colloquium.

From left: Dan Carlisle, Nyasha Makaza, Ushenya Peiris, Supannikar Pakkethati, Pawanrat Chaisri, and Kalmee Kariyawasam

Congratulations to our winning postgraduate communicators!Qayyum Shehzad (left) won the overall Ansley Te Hiwi Student C...
24/09/2026

Congratulations to our winning postgraduate communicators!

Qayyum Shehzad (left) won the overall Ansley Te Hiwi Student Communicator Award for his excellent 10-minute presentation on the interfacial rheology of plant proteins. His skillful communication and comprehensive answers to questions impressed the judges in what was a heavily contested competition.

In a close second came the engaging talk from Justine Boatemaa Coomson (second from the right). Justine's expertise and passion for sharing the barriers and opportunities for strengthening mandatory food fortification in Ghana shone through.

The poster competition was just a close, with Rushikesh Tamhane (second from the left) coming out on top, wowing the judges with his work on unravelling the role of phosphorylation and glycosylation in functional enhancement of soybean proteins. mohadeseh soleimani's (right) poster on testing the stability of sweet-liking status across simple and complex beverage matrices also impressed the judges, earning her the runner up prize.

Congratulations to all of our postgraduate researchers for their presentations across the last three days. It was a colloquium full of interesting and varied research!

Riddet Institute alumna Dr Summer Rangimaarie Wright was featured on Rural Delivery recently, sharing insights from her ...
30/08/2026

Riddet Institute alumna Dr Summer Rangimaarie Wright was featured on Rural Delivery recently, sharing insights from her PhD research into Māori place branding in future foods research.

Dr Wright's thesis made the Dean's List of Excellent Theses at Massey University - Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa, and she is an outstanding communicator, winning awards during her postgraduate studies.

Watch the episode here: https://lnkd.in/eBzJfxNh

Read more: https://lnkd.in/eHjqa3ND

Earlier this month, Riddet Institute doctoral researcher Yuan Wang presented at the Singapore International Food Forum.Y...
28/08/2026

Earlier this month, Riddet Institute doctoral researcher Yuan Wang presented at the Singapore International Food Forum.

Yuan (University of Auckland) is working on creating a plant-protein scaffolding for cell-based meat production. These scaffolds are used for the growth and maturation of bovine satellite cells in laboratory grown meat.

Yuan says the research addresses a core bottleneck in cell-based meat production – providing scalable, food-grade scaffolds that support muscle cell maturation. Developing these scaffolds is a crucial step towards affordable, animal-free meat.

Read more: https://lnkd.in/eHrvXBgv

Congratulations to Dr Chengyi George Yang (centre) on his graduation from the University of Otago!Dr Yang's PhD focused ...
26/08/2026

Congratulations to Dr Chengyi George Yang (centre) on his graduation from the University of Otago!

Dr Yang's PhD focused on developing strategies to create new structured plant protein foods with more appealing texture using 3D printing technology. He is now working as a research fellow at the University of Otago.

Pictured below with two of his supervisors Assoc Prof Mei Peng and Prof Indrawati Oey.

Postgraduate researcher Peter Prendergast's research has identified the differences in intestinal bacteria between those...
25/08/2026

Postgraduate researcher Peter Prendergast's research has identified the differences in intestinal bacteria between those with coeliac disease and those without.

This discovery could lead to new ways of preventing or treating a disease that affects more than 1 in 82 people in Canterbury, New Zealand, and up to 3% of people worldwide.

Read more: https://riddet.ac.nz/news-events-heading?view=article&id=775&catid=8

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