Meet our PhD students

Our PhD candidates share how they arrived at their chosen area of study and what excites them about their research.

A proud African, Carine's research Carine’s research explores Afro-centric youth-led civic engagement.

Carine's story
Luna Zhao

Luna relishes sharing ideas and meeting new people as her PhD explores how Kiwi political parties use marketing to target Chinese New Zealand voters.

Luna's story

Ugandan student Alfdaniels was attracted to the University of Auckland because it’s one of very few institutions in the world to offer a PhD in Dance Studies.

Alfdaniels' story

Roma enjoys the flexibility which enables her to incorporate multiple disciplines into her artistic practice as she completes her doctoral studies in Fine Arts.

Roma's story

Chris is currently a full-time guidance and careers counsellor at an all-boys’ secondary school in Auckland, wanting to deepen his knowledge, he embarked on his doctoral studies.

Chris' story

Natasha realised a PhD would open a door for her to contribute to social work research and discourse from a Pasifika perspective, and influence social policy.

Natasha's story

The sense of mission in advocating for teachers and children in early childhood education and passion for researching to inform policymaking and practice has driven Qun to pursue doctoral study.

Qun's story
Melissa Irvine

After completing her BA (Hons), Melissa dived into a PhD in Linguistics, discovering the emergence and impact of new languages in the Caribbean.

Meet Melissa

As a PhD candidate in Dance Studies, Syrai-Tiare has been able to explore her cultural identity and sense of belonging through movement.

Syrai-Tiare's story

The autonomous nature of the Dance Studies programme empowered Janaína to design her own PhD journey.

Janaína's story

Tia was drawn to doing a doctoral in Dance studies due to the inspirational staff – each with their own distinct area of expertise.

Tia's story

PhD candidate in Dance Studies, Chas, is passionate about providing​ ​rangatahi​ with platforms​ to express themselves through danc​​e.

Chas' story