Massey University, with support from the University of Otago and the Royal Society of New Zealand, presents Professor Peter Doherty, the scientist whose Nobel Prize winning research revolutionised understanding of how our immune system responds to infectious diseases and cancers, and led to breakthroughs in vaccine manufacture.

His talk traverses the topic of viruses – including influenza A viruses, HIV, Ebola and Hendra – and how our body’s immune system responds to them.

Professor Peter Doherty is based at the University of Melbourne and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis.

He is also an author of lay books and his latest is called Sentinel Chickens: What Birds Tell Us About Our Health And Our World.’

The second of our 10x10 lecture series with Dr Alex James from the Biomathematics Research Centre at the University of Canterbury. In her talk, Alex speaks about snails, buses, possums and maths - giving a clear introduction into her work solving all sorts of interesting ecological and wider science problems with mathematics as her tool of choice.

Please note this video combines an audio recording with slides.

Royal Society of New Zealand 2012 Distinguished Speaker Sir Richard Friend FRS, Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cambridge University, tells the story of how unexpected discoveries can lead to new technologies. He talks about his research into organic polymers, which can take on the electronic properties utilised in digital displays and solar cells.

The first of our 10x10 lecture series with Professor James Sneyd from the University of Auckland. He explains how mathematics can give insight into how human cells work and also gives an overview of how mathematics is currently contributing to modern science and industry in New Zealand.

Professor Christine Winterbourn, 2011 winner of the Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Medal, presents the annual Rutherford Lecture on her work on how free radicals are generated in the body as part of normal biological processes. She also talks about some of her applied work with premature babies and touches on antioxidants for health.