Two up-and-coming University of Otago researchers, senior law lecturer Jacinta Ruru and Christchurch-based Associate Prof Richard Troughton, have received the university's Rowheath Trust Award and Carl Smith Medal.
The award and medal recognise outstanding research performance by early-career staff at the university.
Ms Ruru, whose research included indigenous people's rights to own, manage and govern land and water, had made an international impact through high-quality scholarship, university officials said.
Prof Troughton had become a world leader in medical research, including into therapies for heart-failure patients using heart hormones and new implantable devices, officials said.
