Our origins

Historically, Ferrier has had several incarnations in four different institutions. Firstly, as the Carbohydrate Chemistry Team (Carbo) at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) which was divided into Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) in 1992.
Consequently, Industrial Research Limited (IRL) became Carbo’s new home until 2013 when the research and technical services of IRL were absorbed by Callaghan Innovation Research Ltd. Following the establishment of Callaghan Innovation in January 2014 Carbo transferred to the University to become the Ferrier Research Institute.

Our name

The institute is named in honour of the late Professor Robin Ferrier who pioneered carbohydrate chemistry in both New Zealand and globally. Part of Robin’s legacy has been that he supervised the doctoral research of the founder members of the institute and went on to become part of Carbo as an emeritus professor.

The Ferrier’s Māori name, Te Kāuru, was gifted to the institute by Professor Piri Sciascia and translates as ‘the source’ but has two distinct meanings, both of which relate to our institute.

Te kāuru references the head of a tree, river or stream and speaks to us of the beginning of a chemical synthesis or the clues in nature that inspire our work. From these beginnings we create new products and processes with the potential to address economic, environmental, health and societal challenges. Additionally, te kāuru, the fructose-containing upper stems of the cabbage tree, was in earlier times an important source of carbohydrate for Māori and carbohydrates have historically been a key research focus of the Ferrier.

Our reputation

During its history Ferrier has established a world-class reputation in carbohydrate and organic chemistry coupled with structural analysis, synthetic and chemical biology, chemical immunology, and natural product isolation. Ferrier is globally connected having many national and international collaborators, commercial clients, and a significant post-graduate contingent. Ferrier’s scientific outputs include hundreds of publications in highly ranked journals, and hundreds of patents across multiple jurisdictions.

Ferrier staff are proud of former members and graduates who have gone on to work in leading companies and institutes and of products like Forodesine, the active ingredient of Mundesine which has market approval in Japan and is only the second drug developed and progressed to market by a New Zealand based research group.