Research

NICAI is a national leader in research and research policy in the creative arts and industries. It acts as a hub for collaboration between researchers in the creative disciplines within the University and in the wider community, exploring and developing diverse forms of creative practice, media and modes of expression.

NICAI staff and postgraduate students have the opportunity to network with experts and professionals in New Zealand and abroad, and to present their research in local and international settings including art galleries, professional conventions, dance stages and concert platforms.

Recent and current collaborative projects include:

• Transforming Auckland: Institutional, Technological and Cultural Innovations for Sustainable Cities – a thematic research initiative (TRI) that brings NICAI researchers together with with researchers across the University, to focus on innovations for sustainable cities.
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• UN-HABITAT, a United Nations program that aims to promote socially and environmentally sustainable cities and towns around the world, supported by The University of Auckland through the Habitat Partner University Network (HPU).
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• Tuvalu: The Pacific Project, an international research partnership centred around Pacific themes, with a special focus on Tuvalu – 'the canary in the mine of global warming'.
• City Walk Project: NICAI will make a significant contribution to enhancing the Auckland city environment during the Rugby World Cup 2011, with displays of fine arts, architectural and planning projects and live performances of music and dance all along the walking route from downtown Auckland to the site of the event at Eden Park.
  
• Tuia tui Tuia, a series of twelve workshops involving Dance Studies and Music students.
• Speed of Sound: Motion and Journeys, an interdisciplinary festival of sound installations, performances and listening events showcasing the talents of staff and students from the School of Music and Elam School of Fine Arts.
• Can urban areas be sustainable?
  Planning researcher Dr Marjorie van Roon is investigating how to construct and operate ecologically functional urban areas. By planning communities where water cycles operate naturally, ecological processes are accommodated, contaminant runoff and flooding are minimised, and habitats are protected or re-created, we can protect our nation's biodiversity while ensuring our lifestyle is more sustainable.

For University of Auckland students intending to enrol in a NICAI postgraduate programme, NICAI offers 17 Summer Scholarships of $5000, to enable you to work with NICAI staff on a research project during the summer months prior to enrolment. Summer 2010 research projects

There are three specialist libraries within NICAI: The Architecture and Planning Library, the Fine Arts Library and the Music and Dance Library. Together they offer researchers across all disciplines a rich mine of books, journals, artworks, monographs, recordings, databases and online resources, as well as some historical collections of national significance.

Faculty Research
Architecture and Planning research
Dance Studies research
Fine Arts research
Music research
CNZARD research