An international petition has been launched to save the country's only Maori Centre of Research Excellence.
Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga is likely to close its doors at the end of next year when its funding from the Tertiary Education Commission runs out.
It missed out on future funding after not being shortlisted by the Royal New Zealand Society.
The petition is posted on one of the world's biggest online community forums, avaaz.org.
Some 492 people have signed up to the petition called 'Tertiary Education Commission of New Zealand - Maintain Funding for Nga Pae'.
Several of the most recent people to support it are from New Zealand and one is from Australia.
University of Waikato associate professor Leonie Pihama says it would be a significant loss if the centre closed because Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga aims to make real change in Maori communities because it is used in developing programmes such as family violence intervention.
The petition on avaaz.org aims to get 600 people to support it before it's delivered to the Tertiary Education Commission.
