Scholarships and awards

Applications are open for Te Whainga I Te Tika Award, the social justice award valued at $2500, for a student or student group at the University of Auckland that has undertaken a project that demonstrates an outstanding contribution to social justice in Aotearoa New Zealand or internationally.

Te Whainga I Te Tika Award has been set up in honour of Emeritus Professor Jane Kelsey to encourage students and student groups across the University to follow in Jane’s footsteps and pursue social justice across Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally. We welcome applications from all students and student groups who are able to demonstrate their practical work and impact within the area of social justice. 

The scope of social justice is broad, but there are some criteria that are necessary to meet the University’s requirements, specifically:

• The application can be from one or more students or a student group.
• For groups, the majority of those involved in the social justice initiative
  must be current University of Auckland students; the remainder need to be former students of the University of Auckland.
• The students can come from any faculty. 
• The application can relate to a recently completed or ongoing project.
• The award is designed for those who have made practical contributions towards achieving a social justice project.

Applications are open until 1 October 2026.

Applicants must supply the following information:

1. Name of the individual applying or the name of group and the names of members of the group applying 
2. Email addresses of all applicants  
3. University of Auckland student ID numbers of all applicants
4. For groups, are the majority of those involved in the social justice initiative current University of Auckland students and are the remainder former students of the University?
5. What is the social justice project that you have been involved with?
6. What has been the extent of your/your group’s contributions to the project and have you shown particular leadership in the project? 
7. What has been the impact of your work to date? 

Point of contact

Julia Tolmie
Email: j.tolmie@auckland.ac.nz