Representing the University of Auckland, New Zealand, three of our PhD candidates – Xinrui Shen, Mingzhi Zhao, and Kirill Panov – have won the Gold Prize (International Track) at the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition 2025, one of the world’s largest and most competitive student innovation events. 

Their project, EcoTOP, introduces an innovative, low-cost, and sustainable platform for detecting emerging pollutants in water and biological samples. This technology offers a versatile and rapid approach for monitoring contaminants in complex environments, contributing to better environmental protection, public health, and sustainable resource management.

The competition attracted 6.19 million projects from 5,673 universities across 161 countries and regions. This outstanding achievement highlights our Department’s and Faculty’s strong commitment to innovation, sustainability, and global collaboration.