AUT Vice-Chancellors Doctoral Scholarships April and October Rounds

Closing dates: 19 April - Domestic students and AUT graduates only; 15 October - Domestic and International applicants Purpose To encourage and stimulate doctoral studies in areas of AUT Universitys research capability Amount and type of award The scholarship covers the following: Annual payment of tuition fees (at the domestic rate) plus the Learner Service Levy An annual stipend of NZ$25,000 per year. Tenure The scholarship is tenable for up to three years. If a recipient has been enrolled for more than six months at the time of application the scholarship tenure will be reduced accordingly. Eligibility criteria The scholarships are awarded on academic merit. Recipients of this scholarship will have strong academic references plus an excellent academic record and/or have demonstrated the potential for high quality research. Previous study should include research methodologies papers and an independent research project, including the writing of a report on that research.
Applicants for the April round must be New Zealand citizens and permanent residents and including Australian citizens; or International students only if the entry degree to the PhD programme was obtained at AUT. Applicants for the October round may be New Zealand citizens and permanent residents; or International students. Applicants must meet the normal admission criteria to the doctoral programme, including, minimally, second class (first division) honours or equivalent as stated in the Academic Calendar (http://www.aut.ac.nz/calendar). However, recipients of this scholarship will normally have the equivalent of first class honours. The applicants proposed field of study must be one where the University can offer supervision. It is advisable that applicants should contact potential supervisors prior to application to confirm the availability of supervision. Preference will be given to new applicants to a doctoral programme, including those in provisional candidature at AUT.

Application requirements Full information is available from www.phdscholar.ac.nz. Incomplete applications will not be forwarded to the selection panel. The following documents must be submitted to the Scholarships Office by 4.00pm on the closing date:

AUT VC Doctoral Scholarship Application Form; Academic transcript(s) if any previous tertiary study has been completed at a university other than AUT Two referees reports forwarded by the closing date directly and confidentially to the Scholarships Office by the referee. Applicants may not submit referees reports directly. References may be submitted by email providing they are sent from the referees institutional email address. A two page statement outlining the applicants research proposal using the template provided with the application form. Please note this must be two pages only (plus references). If a longer document is provided you will be asked to rewrite it. Written support from the proposed primary supervisor if they have not acted as one of the referees above; A brief C.V. (maximum three pages)

Selection Applications will be shortlisted by faculties who will nominate a faculty shortlist. Recipients will be selected from the faculty nominations by the AUT Scholarships Committee and confirmed by the Vice Chancellor. Selection will be based on demonstrated excellence in the following: the applicants academic record (including prizes, awards and any publications) the applicants research proposal the applicants research and/or professional background and any publication record background the referees statements Preference will be given to applicants whose research area aligns with the Universitys strategic plan.

Regulations - conditions of acceptance

These regulations apply to recipients of the Vice-Chancellors Doctoral Scholarships and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee AUT Doctoral Scholarship. The recipients of either scholarship will be required to sign an AUT Postgraduate Scholarship Contract agreeing to the conditions below and to formalise the acceptance of the scholarship. 1. The stipend will be paid monthly into the recipients nominated bank account. Scholarship payments will not be made retrospectively. 2. The Scholar must be resident in New Zealand and studying at AUT to receive stipend payments.

3. Stipends will not be paid to students living off-shore. Short periods overseas for data collection and reasonable leave will be accepted. 4. The Scholarship for the April round is to be taken up in the period 1 July until the end of semester 2 of the year of application. Application for admission into the programme must be complete by 1 September of the year of application. 5. The scholarship for the October round is to be taken up in the period 1 January until the end of the first semester of the year of award. Application for admission to the programme must be completed by 1 March. The student must be fully enrolled by the end of Semester 1. Requests for deferment must be addressed to the Scholarships Committee and will be dealt with on a case by case basis. 6. The Scholar shall be enrolled in an approved programme of research (the programme) and shall abide by the rules and regulations of Auckland University of Technology (the University). 7. The University and the Scholar agrees that the Scholarship is provided to support the Scholars PhD research only. 8. The Scholar will be expected to work full-time on the programme of research required to complete the degree qualification; for the purpose of this scholarship, full-time is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. 9. 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. Research grants and funding for travel are not considered under these regulations to constitute an award. 10. Approval must be obtained from both the Faculty Associate Dean Postgraduate and the Postgraduate and Research Scholarships Senior Advisor (University Postgraduate Centre) before the Scholar takes any period of leave, other than reasonable annual 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. 11. The Scholar must advise the Postgraduate and Research Scholarships Senior Advisor and the primary supervisor immediately of: a. any leave of absence or withdrawal from full-time study in the programme; b. the submission of the Scholars thesis. 12. The decision regarding whether permission is granted for the Scholar to undertake paid employment, is at the sole discretion of the University. The Scholar must apply to the University Scholarships Committee through the Postgraduate and Research Scholarships Senior Advisor for approval to undertake any paid employment during the tenure of this scholarship. Employment

should be for no more than 600 hours in any one calendar year (normally no more than a maximum of 12 hours per week will be approved). It is preferred any employment is directly related to the Scholars field of research e.g. as a teaching or research assistant. 13. If the Scholar takes leave of absence from study, the Scholar may, at the discretion of the Scholarships Committee, be required to reimburse the University all stipend payments made to the Scholar subsequent to the date of the suspension from study. Should the Scholar receive a retrospective suspension the stipend will be stopped for an equivalent period. 14. The scholarship tenure will cease when the recipient submits their thesis for examination. Where a recipient submits their thesis prior to end of the period of tenure then they may apply for a publishing stipend. 15. If the Scholar, for any reason, withdraws from the programme of research, the Scholar shall reimburse the University all stipend payments to the Scholar subsequent to the date of the withdrawal from 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. 16. The Scholar agrees to complete all University six-monthly progress reports required during the tenure of the Scholarship, outlining their progress to date. 17. 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.