People usually describe me as a little bit hyperactive and crazy!  The crazy part usually results in building innovative projects and developing new ideas while I often use the hyperactivity part to realize those projects in a dynamic way. But I’m also tempted to describe myself as curious. Understanding processes, reactions, reasons why …since I […]

Growing up in an academic family, in Yangon, Myanmar, with an emphatic value placed on education, my parents always wanted to give me an education abroad. As I had never been away from home and as parents they wanted somewhere their child would be safe and still be offered the quality education they were after, […]

Ashim Maharjan was born in Nepal and moved to New Zealand when he was 8 years old.  Stemmed from his own personal interest in fitness and health he has completed both undergraduate and Masters degrees at the University of Otago and is currently working on his PhD.   This is his story, in his own […]

E-learning company GoSkills’ co-founder Bhavneet Chahal says her experiences at the University of Otago kick-started a career helping others learn about IT and realise their potential. Bhavneet completed a Bachelor of Applied Science with first-class honours, majoring in molecular biology in 2006. She later gained a Master of Entrepreneurship. While working for Groupon in Sydney, […]

Imagine……wanting to make a difference…..then coming to the University of Otago and finding an environment that enables you to thrive, despite setbacks, to make that difference. If you’re looking for inspiration to study at Otago, look no further than Master of Science (MSc) in Genetics student Anna Clark…… “I came to Dunedin from Hurunui, North […]

Fox Meyer came to the University of Otago from Washington DC, originally for one semester, but one semester proved not long enough, and he extended his stay for a year.  We caught up with Fox, as he is a bit of an international student super-star, and asked him why he came to Otago?  What he […]

The topic of our native and particularly endemic wildlife in New Zealand, and Dunedin is a passion close to my heart.  I think you will find that many local Dunedin people feel the same way that I do, we recognise the precious taonga that we are surrounded by, and increasingly we are feeling a need […]

If you are a new student to the University of Otago you will no doubt have a lot of questions……..and sometimes asking questions is challenging…..so, we are going to try to explain a few things here on our blog, like how do you learn at Otago?  It might seem like a silly question, but trust […]

In today’s world, more than ever before we require people who are trained in an interdisciplinary nature so that they can ask the hard questions like the title of this blog; “just because we can, does it mean we should?”  This kind of dilemma is one that people will increasingly face as science and technology […]

One thing that never ceases to amaze me in my job is the sense of loyalty and pride that the University of Otago imparts on alumni.  International students who have studied at Otago and have integrated into the culture and immersed themselves in all the opportunities have an incredible passion for this university at the […]