Of 921 smokers asked, 46% support a ban on commercial tobacco products within 10 years - if a suitable substitute is offered. 

An Otago University professor says while New Zealand's law-making system is relatively efficient, time is still wasted debating bills that will never pass. 

Student entries for the annual NBR 24/7 Audacious Business Idea Competition have skyrocketed this year.

University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic students have submitted over 200 business ideas to the competition, more than double the number entered the previous year.

 After the ideas were reviewed and judged by a panel of academics and business professionals, top ten candidates were awarded $1000 each.

A group of University of Otago academics went scavenging for empty cigarette packs in four cities and six towns.

All told, they collected 1310 binned packs. 45% of the scavenged ciggies were from Australia, and 16.7% were from China. Brands sold in 11 other countries completed the pile.

All up, 3.2% came from outside the country - meaning lost tax revenue for New Zealand.

From his team’s street sweep, lead researcher Dr Nick Wilson extrapolates that our government misses out on at least $36 million in lost tobacco tax and GST.

A Dunedin software company has developed an internet-based program that helps tertiary students plan their preferred course of undergraduate study.

The company, 1000Minds, completed the project as part of a two-year collaboration with another Dunedin software company, The Street.

The principals of 1000Minds, Paul Hansen, of Dunedin, and Franz Ombler, of Wellington, were last week named as finalists in the ICT category of the Bayer Innovators Awards in association with NBR.

Otago University researchers today picked up government contracts worth $18.6 million, including nearly $10 million for developing hand-held diagnostic devices over the next six years.

The university has claimed that it can transform the delivery of health care world-wide by making small diagnostic devices that are cheap, accurate, fast and versatile, and can be used at home or in clinics.