Subdoctoral postgraduate research and travel awards

Asia New Zealand Foundation Research Grants

The Foundation offers grants of up to $5,000 to support international travel and fieldwork for researchers undertaking contemporary, forward-looking projects in Asia. Project topics should be forward thinking and have learnings for New Zealand – ideally in policy or in areas where there is meaningful impact for New Zealand's future, such as: foreign affairs, international relations, trade, security, defence, cyber/tech, environment and climate change. Applicants must be New Zealand Citizens or Permanent Residents. Read more.

Fisheries New Zealand Scholarships

Fisheries New Zealand offer scholarships for MSc students in the field of quantitative marine science, particularly stock assessment modelling or ecosystem modelling.

We encourage you to apply if you have a major or minor in mathematics, statistics, computing, or biology. Applicants with a strong quantitative (particularly applied statistics) or computer programming background, combined with marine biology, will be favoured. You must be a New Zealand Citizen or Permanent Resident and enrolling full-time to apply.

Applications for 2026 will be accepted between 15 September and 31 October 2025.

The Capstone Editing Conference Travel Grant for Postgraduate Research Students

The Capstone Editing Conference Travel Grant for Postgraduate Research Students provides up to A$3,000 for one student per year to assist in covering the costs of attending a conference in relation to their degree.

The grant can be used for flights, accommodation and conference registration up to a total of A$3,000. It is expected that a student attending a conference internationally may use all the available funds, whereas a student attending a conference domestically will use only part. Students will need to include an itinerary, budget and letter of support from their supervisor in their application.

The Freemasons University Scholarships

All faculties

The Freemasons Scholarships are to assist able students who are actively involved in their community, to complete their university education in their chosen field. The scholarships are
provided annually, funded and administered by The Freemasons Charity.

For 2024 there will be eight Postgraduate Scholarships of up to $10,000 each, and twenty University Scholarships of up to $6,000 each.

Applications close 1 October. For more information and to apply visit The Freemasons University Scholarships.

The Dick and Mary Earle Scholarship in Technology

Te Pōkai Tara - Universities New Zealand administers this scholarship which provides funds for individuals to undertake masters or doctoral research in innovation and product development and/or bioprocess technology.

Applicants must be New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, and have completed a BTech, BEng, BE degree or equivalent from a New Zealand university, with honours, in a field appropriate to their intended postgraduate study.

Up to $17,000 per annum at Masters level and $25,000 per annum at PhD level.

For more information and to apply visit The Dick and Mary Earle Scholarship in Technology.

Coastal Restoration Trust Post-graduate Scholarship

The purpose of this scholarship is to provide funds to assist with an individual’s post-graduate level research to improve knowledge in the field of coastal restoration. The scholarship is usually $2,000 plus expenses to travel and present at the annual Coastal Restoration Trust Conference.

The Patrick Shannon Scholarship

The Livestock Improvement Patrick Shannon Scholarship Programme is named after one of the most remarkable and innovative bovine geneticists and reproductive biologists in the world. Dr Shannon joined Livestock Improvement in the mid-1950s, and made a variety of world-breaking discoveries, which continue to provide vitality and profitability to the New Zealand dairy industry.

Scholarships are available for New Zealand Citizens or Permanent Residents enrolled in honours or masters level study in mathematics, statistics, machine learning, or science that will establish eligibility for PhD study.

Applications close on 28 November each year. For more information and to apply visit The Patrick Shannon Scholarship.

Ross Beever Memorial Mycological Award (RBMMA)

The award is intended to provide financial support to a student who is studying full time at a post graduate level in mycology: i.e. completing PhD, Masters, Honours or Postgraduate Diploma of Science, on a topic relating to New Zealand mycology or plant pathology. The award may be applied at the discretion of the successful student to provide financial support for field work, study‐related travel, data analysis, reporting and living expenses, or any combination of these purposes. Read more and apply.

RMLA Masters Scholarship

RMLA scholarships are designed to encourage graduate students from a range of disciplines (law, planning, engineering, geography, science, landscape architecture, urban planning and resource management), to focus their research theses or dissertations on topics related to the application of resource management in New Zealand.

The scholarship is open to any graduate student in a University (New Zealand or Overseas) registered for a Masters (including an undergraduate Honours degree involving advanced levels of research and study at Masters degree level). Doctoral studies are not eligible.

One or more Masters scholarships per annum may be awarded out of an annual fund of $15,000. There will generally be three $5,000 scholarships awarded a year.

Applications close 1 September. For more information and to apply visit RMLA Masters Scholarship.

TENZ Postgraduate Scholarship

The TENZ Postgraduate Scholarship is funded by Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ). Scholarships are awarded each year to TENZ members who are undertaking postgraduate study that will make a positive contribution to technology education.

For more information and to apply, visit TENZ.

Society for Underwater Technology - Perth Scholarships

The Society for Underwater Technology awards four scholarships for undergraduate and sub-doctoral postgradaute study every year, to recognise exceptional students and provide targeted financial support to see them complete their studies and start their career in the industry. Applicants are welcome from all manner of backgrounds that have a connection with offshore (or ocean) technology, ranging from underwater technology, marine and ocean science, underwater robotics, renewable energy, offshore and subsea infrastructure, metocean and many more.