Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025): 6th Pacific Islands Universities Regional Network (PIURN) Conference Proceedings
Officially established in 2013, under the name of Pacific Islands Universities Research Network, PIURN (Pacific Islands Universities Regional Network) is a consortium of 16 member universities from the Pacific Islands Countries and Territories (Western Pacific University joined the network in August 2025). A PIURN conference has been organized every two years since its inception, bringing together member universities of the network as well as external partners.
These conferences not only highlight the academic work of the region but also present collaborative research in the Pacific. PIURN is co-chaired by The University of the South Pacific (USP) and the University of New Caledonia (UNC).
Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUoT) offered to organize the 6th PIURN Conference, 1-3 July 2025, in Lae. The general theme “Harnessing technologies for the Safe and Sustainable Development of the Pacific” highlighted the commitment of PNGUoT to innovation, resilience and collaboration for the region.
The Call for Papers opened on February 2nd, 2025 until April 30th, 2025. Papers had to be submitted on the following website: https://piurn2025.sciencesconf.org/. 181 abstracts were submitted and 157 papers were presented at the Conference. PIURN Member Universities accounted for 158 contributions submitted, therefore 87% of the total of abstracts received.
The 6th PIURN Conference brought together close to 200 delegates from 10 Pacific countries and territories (Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu), as well as France and Indonesia.
30 Institutions from across the region were present at the conference. The Pacific region was widely represented in terms of paper presented: 14 PIURN Member Universities, 3 Australian Universities, 1 New Zealand University and a total of 13 universities, research institutes and government bodies from Papua New Guinea. The event was also open to international organizations.
Full Issue contain conference Report, list of sponsers and participants, program book, and individual research articles.
Published:
2026-05-26
