Sleep/Wake Research Centre

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Sleep/Wake Research Centre

Sleep/Wake Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Massey University, New Zealand

The Sleep/Wake Research Centre is passionate about exploring many aspects of sleep and our body’s internal clock. We investigate how not getting enough sleep can affect our health and well-being, what causes sleep difficulties, and how sleep is experienced throughout life. We’re also dedicated to understanding how common sleep issues are in New Zealand, and finding better ways to manage shift work

and workplace fatigue. Our goal is to improve everyone’s well-being through our important research. We engage with community groups, organisations, and government agencies, because, together, we can create new solutions that make a real difference.

26/05/2026

🚴‍♀️ Participants Wanted for Research Study! 🚴‍♂️

Our new Research Assistant, Riley Dixon, is completing his Master's degree. He needs a few more participants, and we thought we'd give him a helping hand!

Are you 18–35, healthy, and recreationally active? Riley is looking for volunteers for a Master’s research study on cycling, hydration, and blood pressure.

💧 Help him understand how hydration affects post-exercise blood pressure (post-exercise hypotension)
📍 Location: Massey University, Wellington campus
⏱ Commitment: 3 visits (total ~4 hours)
💳 Thank you gift: $60 Prezzy card on completion

Interested or want to know more? Get in touch with Riley. Contact details in the image👍

20/05/2026

📣 We’re still recruiting research participants and want to hear from you if you work with high-performance athletes in New Zealand, Australia, or the USA

💤 Help shape the future of sleep & performance in elite sport

We’re inviting coaches and support staff to take part in a 10 minute survey exploring sleep attitudes, practices, and knowledge needs in elite sport.

✅ 31 questions
⏱ ~10 minutes
📅 Open until 31 May 2026
👉 Take part here: https://bit.ly/elitecoachsleep

Feel free to share the link with others in your network.

Your insights will directly inform future resources for those supporting high performance athletes.

Research team
This study is being conducted by researchers from Massey University, Central Queensland University, and the University of Arizona, in collaboration with High Performance Sport New Zealand.

Photo courtesy of HPSNZ

16/05/2026

🙏 Thank you to everyone who responded to our invitation to be in our study exploring cherry juice for sleep and wellbeing 🍒

We’ve had an amazing response and really appreciate the interest in our work.

We now have enough people who have signed up. We have paused recruitment while we are checking their responses.

👉 Interested in sleep studies or want to learn more? We advertise our studies and share our findings on our social channels, as well as our website: www.sleepwake.ac.nz

12/05/2026

🍒 Participants wanted: Help us research whether cherry juice improves sleep

If you’ve been having trouble sleeping, you might be interested in joining our research study at the Sleep/Wake Research Centre, Massey University.

We’re exploring whether sweet cherry juice can help improve sleep and wellbeing.

✨ What you’ll do:
• 7-week at-home study
• Drink a small amount of juice each evening
• Wear a sleep monitor
• Complete a quick daily sleep diary
• Complete questionnaires

As a thank you, you can receive up to $100 in gift cards.

👤 You may be eligible if you:
• Are 25–64 years old
• Live in NZ
• Have mild-moderate sleep difficulties
• Are generally healthy

👉 Interested or want to learn more? Click here to learn more: https://tinyurl.com/CherrySleepNZ

02/05/2026

📣 We’re recruiting research participants!
Do you work with high-performance athletes in New Zealand, Australia, or the USA?

💤 Help shape the future of sleep & performance in elite sport

We’re inviting coaches and support staff to take part in a 10 minute survey exploring sleep attitudes, practices, and knowledge needs in elite sport.

✅ 31 questions
⏱ ~10 minutes
📅 Open until 31 May 2026
👉 Take part here: https://bit.ly/elitecoachsleep

Feel free to share the link with others in your network.

Your insights will directly inform future resources for those supporting high performance athletes.

Research team: This study is being conducted by researchers from Massey University, Central Queensland University, and the University of Arizona, in collaboration with High Performance Sport New Zealand.

Photo courtesy of HPSNZ

22/04/2026

Do you have sleep challenges? Would you be keen to share your experiences?

A team of TV producers here in Aotearoa New Zealand are seeking people with sleep challenges to be involved in a locally produced documentary about sleep.

You might wish to be involved if you:
😴 Snore
🌙 Live with a sleep disorder (e.g. insomnia, restless legs, narcolepsy, sleep apnoea)
💊 Rely on medication to help you sleep
👶 Are a parent whose sleep or children's sleep is frequently disrupted
🕓 Are an extreme early bird or night owl
🚶 Experience sleep walking or other unusual sleep behaviours

You don’t need a formal diagnosis – they’re interested in real, everyday experiences of living with sleep challenges.

If you’d like to learn more about being involved in the documentary, please email Nicole Wood on the documentary team at nicolewd77@gmail.com.

Feel free to share this post with someone who might be interested.

15/04/2026

🎉 Congratulations Dr Cameron Dyer! 🎉

We’re delighted to celebrate Dr Cameron Dyer, who graduated with a PhD at yesterday’s Massey University graduation ceremony in Wellington. Along with his family, Cameron was supported at graduation by his doctoral supervisors at the Sleep/Wake Research Centre, Leigh Signal, Margo van den Berg and Philippa Gander, and colleague, Greg Fallow.

Cameron’s doctoral thesis, “The association between fatigue, sleep loss and simulated flight data measures in regional airline pilots,” makes an important contribution to our understanding of fatigue, sleep, and operational performance in aviation.

Congratulations on this outstanding achievement, Dr Dyer! We look forward to seeing the impact of your research in the future.
👏✈️😴

05/01/2026

⭐ We are looking for research participants ⭐

You are invited to participate in our research study, which will help us find out more about how caffeine consumption affects sleep and vice versa.

Who can participate?

We are looking for people who are:
• Currently living in Aotearoa New Zealand
• Aged 18-64 years old
• Working at least 30 hours per week
• In good general health with no current medical condition and/or not taking medication that is likely to affect your sleep
• A non-smoker

What’s involved?

First, you will complete a set of online questionnaires (20-30 minutes in total) to check if you are eligible. If you are selected, you will need to wear a sleep/wake activity monitor (actigraph) and complete a daily sleep diary for 14 days.

Find out more: https://tinyurl.com/CaffeineSleepNZ

Please share with anyone you think might be interested!

30/11/2025

🌟 Congratulations to Kavita Kashyap! 🎉

On Friday, Kavita graduated with a Master of Science (Psychology), supervised by Prof Leigh Signal and co-supervised by Dr Dee Muller.

📚 Thesis Title - Teen Sleep, Emotional Well-Being and Mental Health: A Qualitative Study

This experiential qualitative research explored what adolescents think about their sleep, emotional well-being, and mental health - and the connections between these concepts. Through interviews with 12 adolescents at a North Island school, Kavita gained insights using reflexive thematic analysis.

✅ Adolescents have a detailed understanding of these interrelated aspects of their lives, and shared ideas on how families and schools can better support them.

💡 These findings can inform adolescent health policies, care strategies, and interventions, emphasising the importance of working with young people to improve outcomes.

👏 Well done, Kavita, on contributing valuable knowledge to adolescent health and well-being!

29/11/2025

🎓 Congratulations to Dr Jonathan Peters! 🎉

Jonathan has graduated with a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, supervised by A/Prof Ian de Terte, with co-supervisors Prof Leigh Signal, LTCDR Egidia Bernerius, and Helen Kilding.

📖 Thesis Title: Wireless and Tiredness: Investigating Interrelated Influences of Electronic Media Use, Sleep, and Fatigue

Jonathan’s research examined how electronic media use, sleep, and fatigue interact. He developed a conceptual framework to understand these relationships and mapped existing evidence through an umbrella scoping review. Building on this, he designed a novel intervention to encourage self-directed electronic media use to support sleep health, testing it with sailors in active duty in Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, The Royal New Zealand Navy, using a multiple-baseline single-case experimental design.

The study found no immediate effects, but found longer-term improvements in subjective fatigue at six-month follow-up, though these changes could not be attributed solely to the intervention. His thesis also explores the conceptual, theoretical, and practical challenges of researching these complex topics.

👏 Well done, Jonathan, on this important contribution to understanding media use, sleep, and fatigue!

28/11/2025

⭐ We are looking for research participants for 2026 ⭐

You are invited to participate in our research study, which will help us find out more about how caffeine consumption affects sleep and vice versa.

Who can participate?
We are looking for people who are:
• Currently living in Aotearoa New Zealand
• Aged 18-64 years old
• Working at least 30 hours per week
• In good general health with no current medical condition and/or not taking medication that is likely to affect your sleep
• A non-smoker

What’s involved?
First, you will complete a set of online questionnaires (20-30 minutes in total) to check if you are eligible. If you are selected, you will need to wear a sleep/wake activity monitor (actigraph) and complete a daily sleep diary for 14 days. You’ll start these activities in early 2026.

Find out more: https://tinyurl.com/CaffeineSleepNZ
Please share with anyone you think might be interested!

Address

Massey University, Wallace Street, Mt Cook
Wellington
6021

Telephone

+64 4 979 3997

Website

http://sleepwake.massey.ac.nz/

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