Matariki is the name in the
Māori language for the
Pleiades star cluster, also known as the
Seven Sisters. It reflects the seven founding member universities of the MNU. The Matariki Undergraduate Research Network (MURN) ran in 2012 and 2013 as an attempt to foster international undergraduate research. Assessment of MURN found that it had worked well locally but the international element had been less effective, in particular due to differences in time zones and in academic calendars. The academic libraries of the member institutions have collaborated on benchmarking activities to set their performance in an international context and to develop and share best practices. The libraries also collaborated on assessing whether 'flipped subscription' models for
open access publishing, where funds previously used for journal subscriptions are flipped to instead pay article publishing costs, were viable for mid-sized research universities. The "Oceans and the Blue Economy" theme brought together researchers from the Matariki universities to identify ways in which the marine economy could achieve economic goals while also building environmental resilience. ==Universities==