All organisations value progress but at Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga it comes with some unique challenges. We are of course focused on excellent research, but at the same time by creating a new knowledge base we also aim to ensure lasting benefits for Mäori and the nation. There is some urgency to this.

We need to establish a strong new scholarly environment that future generations can also build on. In 2008 our goals centred on helping strengthen networks among Mäori researchers; widening the CoRE's footprint through significant new partnerships and continuing to find new ways to support and create more new Mäori PhDs.

Against all of these goals it was very pleasing to see our new initiatives deliver important gains. Our Knowledge Exchange Event Support Grants programme created new multipliers of value by assisting four other related organisations to raise sponsorship to convene major research conferences. This resulted in conferences on education, criminal justice, research and language collectively attended by 1200 research and community representatives.

We consolidated partnerships with seven new Participating Research Entities and major government organisations. Importantly, we also advanced a new initiative with the universities of Auckland and Otago to review current PhD profiles to build on the gains already made in supporting more Mäori PhDs. The Centre surpassed a founding goal of creating 500 new Mäori PhDs within five years. We are committed to even greater gains in the future.