New research has identified potential early treatments for deadly genetic cancers, removing the need for drastic preventative surgery.

New Labour MP Stuart Nash was bankrolled to the tune of $4000 a month by political backers for more than a year leading up to last year's general election.

Analysis of election candidate donations has shown a wide variety of businesses are willing to open their wallets for politicians.

What started as a fantasy about flying back to his student flat after a long night at the local pub has turned into a reality worth an estimated $100 million for a former Dunedin man.

A large student population surrounds Otago University creating an intense, rich, youthful culture. Great ideas spew out of those messy flats. So does spew, writes Matt Heath.

An annual party at a sponsored student flat has been cancelled after more than 3000 people indicated they would attend.

A group of Dunedin flatmates say they picked up 550kg of glass after a party they hosted on their street which attracted 1000 people.

''I try to pick up the broken glass every Sunday morning, but it was just too bad.'' 1000 revellers helped plaster a Dunedin street in glass - to residents' disgust.

A state-of-the-art laboratory near Franz Josef Glacier is being packed up after an ambitious drilling operation came to a premature end before scientists could bore through the high-risk Alpine Fault.

Nobel Laureate and former United States Energy Secretary Steven Chu says New Zealand has an opportunity to quickly ramp up its use of renewable energy because of the huge strides being made in wind,....

A Kiwi researcher is studying how children exercise restraint from tempting lollies - and what it says about their likely self-control later in life.

A researcher's tireless efforts to ensure every Kiwi can have a safe, warm and dry home has been rewarded with the country's largest prize for science.

The death of a 22-year-old student who fell from his skateboard and suffered a fatal head injury has been referred to the coroner.

A team of scientists drilling deep into the South Island's high-risk Alpine Fault have been intrigued to encounter unusually high temperatures just several hundred metres below ground.

The Otago University student behind a "Rack Appreciation Society" Facebook page where members shared explicit pictures of young women says he's sorry.

The University of Otago's reputation has been ''sullied'' by an explicit Facebook page, vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne says.

Women are being urged to come forward to police if they think they have been exploited on a recently shut down Facebook page.

The University of Otago's ban on pornography in residential colleges is being slammed as an attack on student freedom.

Although IVF treatments are widely accepted in New Zealand, it is ethically inconsistent that the human embryo research the treatments depend on remains prohibited, a University of Otago professor says.

Lives were put at risk from couch fires lit too close to houses in Dunedin's student quarter, Dunedin police and the Fire Service have warned.

Left leaning political commentator and academic Bryce Edwards has pulled out of Otago University's Vote Chat online politics show over concerns the programme is now dominated by National Party supporters.

Calls are being made to remove dissections from first-year courses as the killing of animals at universities comes under fresh scrutiny.

In the parks, beaches, back gardens and forests of the country, non-scientists can help with with a raft of research projects.

The Dunedin City Council received 382 noise complaints last month - the highest since February 2010. Guess the Scarfies are back in town.

The trouble in Ukraine has left NZ in a critical position as it vies for selection to the United Nations Security Council, an expert in international relations says.

A radio station and Dunedin property owner are in hot water over the sponsorship of a student flat.