Affiliate Member Wins Future Leaders’ Fellowship

Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre affiliate member, Dr William Holmes-Hewett has been awarded an inaugural Aotearoa New Zealand Tāwhia te Mana Research Fellowship by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Dr William Holmes-Hewett is one of twenty promising early career researchers granted $820,000 over the next four years under the Mana Tūāpapa Future Leader category. He is an Investigator with Quantum Technologies Aotearoa and is based at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Dr Holmes-Hewett will use the fellowship to further his study of new materials for advanced components in quantum computers.

These systems require superconducting circuit elements which cannot be built with existing technology.  His research aims to generate suitable materials by leveraging the electronic and magnetic properties of rare-earth nitrides. Dr Holmes-Hewett will demonstrate the functionality of these materials, which is key to the development of future superconducting and quantum computing. He says the award is a fantastic opportunity to bring a novel materials-based solution to a long-standing issue in superconducting electrons.

“This is a project I’ve been dreaming about since an idea sparked during discussions at a conference in 2022. It is a real privilege to have the chance to follow that through.”

The Aotearoa New Zealand Tāwhia te Mana Research Fellowships support researchers at different career stages to produce excellent and impactful research and to develop into leaders in their fields, their respective host organisations and across the whole of the Aotearoa New Zealand science, innovation and technology system.

Research by other recipients in the Mana Tūāpapa Future Leaders category includes development of new materials to enhance agricultural productivity, drawing on mātauranga Māori knowledge to combat modern problems like obesity, and creation of new tools to help us prepare for natural hazards including earthquakes, volcanoes and extreme weather.

The Chair of the Selection Panel, Professor Renwick Dobson of Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury said, “It was a privilege to work with the selection panel and review such excellent Mana Tūāpapa early-career researchers. There is no doubt in my mind that they have the support to excel in their chosen research fields and the potential to become our future thought leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

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