Two of Dunedin's biggest student bars have shut suddenly, and their owner has pointed to Dunedin's ''utterly conservative'' councillors as the cause.

University of Otago PhD researcher Hazem Zohny has warned about myths and "hype" involving so-called "smart" drugs.

An NZ-born former banker who refused to pay child support, claiming he was broke, has been berated by a judge for jet-setting around Europe.

Otago University researchers have come out on top in health awards scooping up more than $1.8 million in funding for research.

A national television programme about Dunedin student drinking culture was criticised at a University of Otago council meeting yesterday.

A woman who complained about drunk and disorderly Dunedin students says she's been harassed in person and online since appearing on TV.

US student Allison Willen was making her way, alone, through flood water covering a section of the Young Valley walking track when she was swept to her death.

An American tourist found dead in a river near Wanaka yesterday had previously described her first tramping trip in a column published by Otago University’s student magazine Critic.

A process that could turn harmful gases into useful products like car tyres shows why scientists need to keep challenging our understanding of what are the proteins vital to all life on Earth.

Otago University's Dental School has been recognised as among the top 10 in the world.

Brains, brawn and beauty helped University of Otago medical student Deborah Lambie win the 2015 Miss World New Zealand crown.

Police fear a missing University of Otago student could have been swept away in a flooded river during a tramp in Mt Aspiring National Park at the weekend.

It's no Jurassic jest - meet the Velociraptor's vegetarian cousin.

Parents who refuse vitamin K for their newborns are more likely to also turn down childhood immunisations, a study has found.

New University of Otago research is providing the most comprehensive picture of the nearly 40million-year-long evolutionary history of baleen whales.

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.

Ask Sir Murray Brennan about an esteemed medical career that has now been honoured with a knighthood and luck is a recurring theme.

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.