University of Auckland - Waipapa Taumata Rau

The University has been ranked 67th globally in the QS World University Rankings 2027 and remains among the world’s top 100 universities.

With more than 1,500 universities evaluated worldwide, the University of Auckland continues to perform strongly, across key indicators.

Key strengths include global connection, research impact and positive employment outcomes for graduates, highlighting the University’s contribution to society.

Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor Frank Bloomfield said the results demonstrate a sustained commitment to excellence and the growing impact of the University’s work.

Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/06/18/auckland-remains-among-worlds-top-universities.html

Trust has always been one of our greatest strengths in the Pacific. It may also be one of our greatest vulnerabilities.

Pacific communities need to ensure people are entering crypto investing with genuine understanding, proper protections and informed consent says Sione Taufa, Associate Dean Pacific at the University of Auckland Business School.

And in the Pacific, hope travels through relationships. People don’t join these schemes because they have carefully studied blockchain technology or financial markets. They join because someone they trust invited them.

A cousin.

A church member.

A respected community figure.

A friend overseas.

Across the region, more people are being drawn into crypto schemes with promises of fast returns, financial freedom and new economic opportunities. Through social media, messaging groups and community networks, crypto promoters are presenting digital investment platforms as pathways to wealth and independence.

What is increasingly concerning is how some of these promoters seek legitimacy by associating themselves with respected public figures, community leaders and government officials.

In Pacific societies, relationships matter. Visibility matters. Respectability matters. A photograph with a minister or senior leader carries social meaning. It creates trust. Trust is the greatest asset many crypto promoters gain in the Pacific, which they then use to get money.

For many families already facing rising living costs, housing pressures and remittance obligations, the promise of a financial breakthrough can be hard to resist. When opportunities are limited, the prospect of a new pathway to financial security can feel less like speculation and more like hope.

Crypto promoters understand this; they sell hope before they explain risk.

The challenge Pacific communities need to address is ensuring people are entering these systems with genuine understanding, proper protections and informed consent.

Read more: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/06/14/trust-is-foundation-of-Pacific-communities-and-crypto-scammers-know.html

---
Sione Taufa is the Associate Dean Pacific at the University of Auckland Business School.

This article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland, and was first published on Newsroom, 16 June, 2026.

A glimpse of our exhibition for the 2026 Auckland Festival of Photography, Kori: Lens on a living world.

General Common Space, Science Building, 23 Symonds St
8-14 June

Join us for the ‘People’s Choice’ award on Friday 12th June, open to all!

Images:
1. Vector diagram of wind flow through the gannet colony. John Charles Montgomery
2. Surfeit. Paul Caiger
3. Fiji dog, Yasawa Islands. Louise Wilson
4. Plum blossoms in winter, Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou, China. Sean Liu
5. Grooving with the city. Baskoro Laksitoadi
6. Where the mountains breathe. Avishek Shrestha
7. Still becoming. Sijie Wang

Beatrice Faumuinā knows first-hand the difference a scholarship can make.

Now she’s helping shape the next generation of leaders as the new director of the Kupe Leadership Scholarship.

Over the years, she’s developed her own “magic sauce” as a business leader: family, faith and acts of kindness. These elements sit alongside the discipline, resilience and leadership skills she’s built through sport, business and governance.

She’s bringing this mix to the Kupe Leadership Scholarship programme, where she’ll help shape its strategic direction, strengthen its national and international profile, and support exceptional postgraduate leaders from across the University.

For Beatrice, who was named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours, leadership is about honesty, service, humility and follow-through.

“I’ve spent years encouraging young people not to let barriers define whether they belong. I ask them instead to create opportunities to be in those spaces. I tell them, ‘Because of your culture, language, and who you represent, it’s vital that you’re in those rooms, whatever your aspirations are. Instead of saying, ‘They don’t look or sound like me’, that might be exactly why you need to be there.’”

Read more here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/06/10/beatrice-faumuin--championing-future-leaders-.html

The ocean has always flowed through us, in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the climate that makes our lives possible.

Leigh Marine Laboratory is our marine research base at Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve (also known as Goat Island Marine Reserve).

It’s home to the largest boat fleet at any New Zealand University including our 15-metre RV Te Kaihōpara research vessel (able to support six people for up to a week at sea).

Join us at the Institute of Marine Science free open day from 10am to 3pm on Saturday 13 June to celebrate the ocean with talks from researchers, interactive exhibits across the Leigh Lab campus, community and connection.



Find out more and register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/dive-into-world-ocean-day-institute-of-marine-science-open-day-2026-tickets-1988802586072

Image credits: 1-4. Paul Caiger, 5. Brady Doak

Research shows sleep problems are overwhelmingly associated with poor teen mental health, and improving sleep can be part of the solution.

Sleep problems are common and biologically influenced, but sleep is modifiable, and even small behaviour changes can make a meaningful difference to well-being.

Research into sleep and teen mental health in Sāmoa and Aotearoa New Zealand has been boosted by a visit from Professor Russell Foster of the University of Oxford.

“We can use sleep solutions for the treatment and prevention of things like depression and anxiety,” says Dr Nicola Ludin, who is a chronobiology scientist in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.

Read more about the research here: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026/06/02/chronobiology-group-hood-fellowship.html