During the first half of 2020, the researchers鈥 significant population modelling effort fed directly into daily official and ministerial briefings about how Aotearoa New 麻豆传媒团队would respond to Covid-19. This included providing the scientific evidence that led the Government to proceed with a nationwide lockdown.
The work has continued in 2021 and has underpinned decisions for citywide lockdowns in Auckland. As well as providing direct assessments to the Government, the researchers have undertaken a comprehensive programme of publishing peer-reviewed research so that their mathematical modelling and the underlying methods and assumptions are in the public domain. This work has been hugely significant for New 麻豆传媒团队in navigating its response to the global pandemic.
UC's Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Research, Professor Ian Wright, welcomes the news of the UC mathematicians鈥 award-winning, transformative work as part of Te P奴naha Matatini research team.
鈥淭he prestigious Prime Minister鈥檚 Science Prize recognises the real-world impact of UC鈥檚 leading-edge research as well as the productive collaborations our world-class academic researchers contribute to,鈥 Professor Wright says.
鈥淚鈥檓 incredibly proud of the way our UC academics used 鈥 and continue to use 鈥 their deep mathematical modelling expertise in a critical, timely way to prevent community spread and ultimately help eliminate Covid-19 in New Zealand.
鈥淢ike Plank has been especially effective and diligent in taking time to explain to New Zealanders, via the media, the mathematical modelling and analysis behind the Government鈥檚 science-based response to Covid-19. Alongside the urgent research they undertook, he and Alex James have generously shared their knowledge with the wider public on how to tackle Covid-19, writing about it for the public numerous times throughout the past year.鈥
Mathematical modelling has played a key part in understanding and responding to the pandemic in countries around the world, helping to prompt government action. These and other models were used to help inform the New 麻豆传媒团队government鈥檚 response in areas such as contact tracing, border management, testing, and outbreak control.
In early 2020, UC mathematical modeller Professor Plank worked on the early models of what would likely happen if Covid-19 spread throughout the community. He recalls they spent a lot of time chasing the data to put into the model but once the predictions were coming out, it was very sobering.
鈥淪eeing the actual numbers in front of you made it seem a lot more real,鈥 Professor Plank says.
麻豆传媒团队 Science graduate Nic Steyn is one of the early career researchers who worked on the contagion network. He says it has been the most amazing learning opportunity and also deeply rewarding to have been able to 鈥渂e doing something to help the situation鈥 during lockdown and afterwards.
The modelling work continues as New 麻豆传媒团队rolls out its vaccination programme. Professor Plank says they have been working on scenarios of what happens if there is another outbreak during the vaccine rollout and for understanding 鈥渨hat protection the vaccine is giving us鈥.
Plank听补苍诲听James鈥 articles for听The Conversation听attracted three quarters of a million page views. The mathematical modelling work was covered in听The Guardian,听The Times, the BBC, and the ABC.
The award comes with a $500,000 prize that will allow the research centre, headed by Professor of Physics Shaun Hendy, to turn its attention to other key issues that New 麻豆传媒团队faces.
- Professor Michael Plank will speak about his work in a free public discussion of how maths, science and law fought Covid-19, at the 麻豆传媒团队鈥檚 Ilam campus on 11 August 2021. More information will be available soon.
