AUT Doctoral Scholarships

Closing dates: AUT Vice Chancellor’s Doctoral Scholarships - throughout the year
AUT Doctoral Scholarships - 1 March, 15 July, 1 November

AUT provides doctoral scholarships to highly achieving doctoral research students to AUT University in
order to encourage and stimulate doctoral studies in areas of the University’s research capability.

Type of award
1. AUT Vice Chancellor’s Doctoral Scholarships (conditions apply see eligibility criteria)
a. New doctoral applicants with a GPA of 8.0 or above in their most recent qualifying programme
will be considered on a case-by-case basis for a scholarship provided the qualifying programme
was completed at a New Zealand Tertiary Institution and they meet the additional conditions
below; or
b. New Māori and domestic Pacific doctoral applicants with a GPA of 7.5 or above, from their most
recent qualifying programme will be considered on a case-by-case basis for a scholarship
provided the qualifying programme was completed at a New Zealand Tertiary Institution and
they meet the additional conditions below. Applicants applying under b) must be citizens or
permanent residents of New Zealand.
2. AUT Doctoral Scholarships
The contestable rounds are open to all eligible applicants. Applicants may be New Zealand
citizens or permanent residents, or International students. Applications open one month prior to
the closing date.

Value of award
The full scholarship normally consists of the following:
• Tuition fees (at the domestic rate) plus the compulsory student services fee; and
• A stipend of NZ$33,000 per annum for 2024 awards.

Applicants for the AUT Doctoral Scholarship will also be considered for one of the following Faculty or
School funded options:
• A Full Fee Scholarship; or
• Full fees plus an annual stipend equivalent to at least $20,000 or the minimum living cost criteria
for Immigration NZ student visa, whichever is the highest.
Tenure
• All AUT PhD scholarships are tenable for up to three years. Support for a Professional Doctorate
will be for up to two years only. Note: If a candidate is already enrolled in the PhD programme at
AUT, the number of months between first enrolment and the scholarship closing date with a
three-month grace period will be deducted from the full period of support.
• Annual renewal is dependent on satisfactory progress as demonstrated by meeting the
milestones outlined in the AUT Postgraduate Handbook.
Eligibility criteria
• Applicants must meet English language proficiency requirements as stated in the Academic
Calendar (http://www.aut.ac.nz/calendar) at the time of application.
• Applicants must meet the normal admission criteria for the doctoral programme and have
received an Offer of Place (OOP) for the doctoral programme at AUT.
http://www.aut.ac.nz/study-at-aut/entry-requirements/postgraduate-and-graduate-
admissionrequirements
• Recipients of this scholarship will have an excellent academic record, strong academic references
and have demonstrated the potential for high quality research.
• Scholarships are awarded on academic merit and recipients of this scholarship will normally have
the equivalent of first-class honours. Previous study should include research methodology
paper(s) and an independent research project, including the writing of a report on that research.
• The applicant’s proposed field of study must be one where the University can offer supervision.
Applicants should contact potential supervisors prior to application to confirm the availability of
supervision for their proposed research.
• Preference will be given to new applicants to the doctoral programme at AUT, including those
currently in provisional candidature.
• Applicants who have applied and been shortlisted but unsuccessful in a past round may apply
again in one subsequent round only.
• Applicants who have applied unsuccessfully (not shortlisted) in past rounds may reapply only if
there is a significant change to the information submitted.

Applications will be accepted in two categories:

1. AUT Vice Chancellor’s Doctoral Scholarships - applicants may apply at any time during the year.
a. New doctoral applicants with a GPA of 8.0 or above in their most recent qualifying programme
will be considered on a case-by-case basis for a scholarship provided the qualifying programme
was completed at a New Zealand Tertiary Institution and they meet the additional conditions
below; or
b. New Māori and domestic Pacific doctoral applicants with a GPA of 7.5 or above, from their most
recent qualifying programme will be considered on a case-by-case basis for a scholarship
provided the qualifying programme was completed at a New Zealand Tertiary Institution and
they meet the additional conditions below. Māori and domestic Pacific applying under (b.) must
be citizens or permanent residents of New Zealand.
NB: the GPA for AUT Doctoral scholarships will be calculated using the AUT method outlined in the
document available from the webpage AUT-Doctoral-Scholarship-Ranking-Website-version-2017.pdf.

The following additional conditions apply for Vice Chancellor’s Doctoral Scholarships
• Grades for the qualifying degree must be available at the time of application.
• Applicants must have an unconditional Offer of Place in the doctoral programme.
• A scholarship allocated under this category must be taken up within three months.
• Applicants who have previously applied unsuccessfully for an AUT Doctoral Scholarship are not
eligible to apply.

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2. AUT Doctoral Scholarships –Applications open one month prior to the closing dates
a. The three contestable rounds are open to all eligible applicants i.e. applicants may be New
Zealand citizens or permanent residents, or International students.
b. Grades for the qualifying degree must be available at the time of application. Students awaiting
grades must apply in the following round.

Application requirements
Full information is available from the AUT Doctoral Scholarships web page. It is not possible to submit
incomplete scholarship applications through the online application process. For the application to be
submitted applicants must complete all sections and request the required support statements.
Incomplete applications will not be forwarded to the selection panel. The following will need to be
uploaded and submitted with the on-line Application Form:
• Academic transcript(s) for any previous tertiary study that was completed at a university other
than AUT
• Copy of conditional or unconditional Offer of Place
• A brief C.V. (maximum three pages)
• A two-page proposal outlining the intended research using the template provided with the
online application form. The applicant will be asked to provide the following details:
- Proposed Topic/Title
- Rationale and significance of the study
- Key Question/hypothesis/problem/issue to be Investigated:
- Design of the study; the methodology and research technique(s) to be employed
in the study
- Research benefits
- References
Note: the proposal must be two pages only (1,000 words) plus a maximum of one page for any
references. If a longer document is provided you will be asked to revise the document to meet
the requirements.

Complete applications for AUT Vice Chancellor’s Doctoral Scholarships will be forwarded to the Faculty’s
Associate Dean Postgraduate who will then recommend the awarding of a scholarship under this
category if appropriate, to be considered on a case-by-case basis by a sub-committee of the AUT
Scholarships Committee. Applicants are notified of the outcome by the University Scholarships Office.

Reference statements:
• Two academic reference statements are required for all applicants other than those whose
qualifying programme was completed at AUT.
• AUT applicants will be required to provide one referee only.
• Applicants must not submit referee’s reports directly; nominated referees will be sent a request
directly from the On-line application system. Please advise your referees that they will be
receiving an email requesting a reference statement. Applicants can submit the application
without referees’ statements. However, the application will be considered ineligible and will not
be released to selection panels without the required reference statements.

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Selection
• In making the selection panels will give particular consideration to the applicant’s status with
regard to; New Zealand citizenship, residency, Maori or Pacific Island ethnicity, AUT alumni.
• Selection will be based on demonstrated excellence in the following:
- the applicant’s academic record (including prizes, awards and any publications)
- the applicant’s research proposal
- the applicant’s research and/or professional background and any publication record
- the referees’ statements
• Preference is given to applicants who align with the University’s strategic plan.
• Applications will be shortlisted by faculties. Applicants who are not shortlisted will be advised
within one month of application.
• Recipients of centrally funded AUT Doctoral Scholarships will be selected from the shortlisted
faculty nominations by a sub-committee of the AUT Scholarships Committee and confirmed by
the Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
• Recipients of School or Faculty funded scholarships will be selected by the funding unit and
advised of the type of scholarship to be awarded.
• All successful and unsuccessful shortlisted applicants will be advised of the outcome within six
weeks of application; successful applicants will be advised of the type of scholarship awarded.
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See Pages 5 – 7 for Conditions of Acceptance.

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AUT Vice-Chancellor’s Doctoral Scholarships

Conditions of acceptance
Note: The conditions outlined apply to applicants for, and recipients of, the Vice-Chancellors Doctoral
Scholarships and the AUT Doctoral Scholarships unless specified otherwise in an approved regulations
document. The exception is when a fees only scholarships is awarded when clause 12-15 will not apply.

1. The recipients of all AUT stipend scholarships will be required to sign an AUT Postgraduate
Scholarship Contract (the Contract) within the application portal to formalise the acceptance of the
scholarship and agreeing to the conditions below. The Contract must be signed by the recipient, the
primary supervisor and Head of School or Programme for any AUT funded doctoral scholarship with a
stipend valued at $20,000 or greater. The contract is held within the AUT online Scholarship Portal
CommunityForce and will form part of the online process of accepting the scholarship.

2. The Scholar must remain enrolled in a full-time approved programme of research (the programme)
during the tenure of the Scholarship and shall abide by the rules and regulations of Auckland
University of Technology (the University).

3. If a recipient is already enrolled in their PhD at the time of award, the three-year tenure will be
adjusted by deducting the number of months between first enrolment date and scholarship closing
date with a three-month grace period.

4. The stipend will be paid monthly into the recipient’s nominated New Zealand bank account.
Scholarship payments will not be made retrospectively.

5. The Scholar must be resident in New Zealand and studying at AUT to take up the scholarship.
Stipends will not be paid to students living off-shore. Short periods overseas for data collection and
reasonable holiday leave of no more than one month in any one year, excluding data collection
and/or attendance at conferences, will be approved

6. A Vice Chancellor’s Doctoral Scholarship is to be taken up within three months of the offer of
scholarship.

7. An AUT Doctoral Scholarship must be taken up within four months of the offer of scholarship or
within eight months if the applicant is an international student.

8. Requests for scholarship deferment must be addressed to the Scholarships Committee and sent to
[email protected] and will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

9. The University and the Scholar agrees that the Scholarship is provided to support the Scholar’s PhD
or Professional Doctorate research only.

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10. Professional Doctorate candidates may receive support for the research component of their degree
only and providing they are able to commit full time to their research. This support will be for a
maximum of two years.

11. The Scholar must inform the Scholarships Office of any other awards held during the tenure of this
scholarship. The co-tenure of awards up to one third of the value of this scholarship is permitted but
must be approved by the Scholarships Office. Research grants and funding for travel are not
considered under these regulations to constitute an award.

12. A scholar may not hold a scholarship or award supporting research other than that for which the
scholar is funded under the Contract. If the scholar wishes to undertake a secondary research project
the primary scholarship must be suspended.

13. Under the single category of enrolment for PhD study, students receiving an AUT stipend must
commit full-time to their programme of research.

14. The decision regarding whether permission is granted for the Scholar to undertake paid employment,
is at the sole discretion of the University. With the exception of recipients of a Doctoral Fees
scholarship only, scholars must apply to the University Scholarships Committee through the Head of
the Scholarships Office for approval to undertake any paid employment during the tenure of this
scholarship.

15. For Scholars receiving a stipend of $20,000 or greater, approved employment will be for no more
than 1000 hours in any one calendar year (up to a maximum of 20 hours per week will be approved).
It is preferred any employment is directly related to the Scholar’s field of research e.g. as a teaching
or research assistant. Scholars employed for more than 20 hours per week may be advised to
suspend their scholarship while undertaking the employment.

16. The Scholar agrees to complete all AUT six-monthly progress reports (PGR8) required during the
tenure of the Scholarship within the timeframe outlined in the AUT Postgraduate Handbook.

17. The scholar must move from provisional to full registration (PGR9) within the timeframe outlined in
the AUT Postgraduate Handbook. Failure to do so may result in termination of the scholarship.

18. The Scholar must advise the Scholarships Office and the primary supervisor immediately of:
a. any leave of absence or withdrawal from full-time study in the programme; and
b. submission of the Scholar’s thesis.

19. The scholar must obtain approval from both the Faculty Associate Dean Postgraduate and the Head
of the University Scholarships Office before undertaking any period of leave, other than reasonable
holiday leave. This includes any period longer than one month that the Scholar may need to spend
overseas to undertake research relating to the programme.

20. If the Scholar takes leave of absence from full-time study, the Scholar may, at the discretion of the
Scholarships Committee, be required to reimburse the University all stipend payments to the Scholar

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 subsequent to the date of the leave of absence from full-time study. Should the Scholar receive a
retrospective leave of absence the stipend will be stopped for an equivalent period.

21. If the Scholar, for any reason, withdraws from full-time study in the programme, the Scholar shall
reimburse the University all stipend payments to the Scholar subsequent to the date of the
withdrawal from full-time study. Further, at the discretion of the University Scholarships Committee,
the Scholar may be required to repay the University part, or all, of the scholarship stipend paid to the
Scholar during the tenure of the Scholarship.

22. The recipient must advise the Scholarships Office of the intention to submit the thesis for
examination. The scholarship tenure will cease within one month of the Scholar submitting their
thesis for examination. Where the Scholar submits their thesis prior to end of the period of tenure of
the scholarship they may apply for a publishing stipend (up to a maximum of three months).

23. The University Scholarships Committee may at any time suspend or terminate the Scholarship if it
determines the Scholar is not diligently pursuing the programme or making satisfactory progress or
has failed to comply with any of the terms and conditions on which the Scholarship was awarded.

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