Exploring the Value and Meaning of Health Research Council‐Funded Research for Pacific Students and Community Leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand

This study investigates the perceived importance of Pacific master's and PhD research projects funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) from the perspective of Pacific students and community. As HRC continues to invest in building Pacific health research capacity, it is vital to ensure that funded projects resonate with Pacific values, community priorities and culturally grounded understandings of health and wellbeing. This research positions Pacific students and community not merely as recipients of funding, but as reflective evaluators of research, its impact, relevance and legacy within their own communities. Central to this study is an innovative method enabling rich talanoa based on patterns of shared views that prioritise the voice, agency and cultural logic of participants. Participants ranked 50 statements derived from the titles of HRC‐funded student research projects in a quasi‐normal distribution from most to least important in their opinion (referred to as Q sorts). Patterns in these distributions were the basis for talanoa with the students and community leaders who provided the Q‐sort data. Key findings include Pacific prioritising youth mental health, digital access and research resonant with lived experience, whilst community leaders emphasised broad and inclusive Pacific research, sensitive social issues and community‐grounded methodologies such as talanoa. Collectively, these findings are underpinned and grounded on the centrality of culturally responsive, participatory approaches to advancing Pacific health research capacity. Future research should expand stakeholder representation across diverse Pacific communities and institutions to strengthen the generalisability and translational impact of capacity‐building frameworks.