Wellington Doctoral Scholarship PhD Program 2025-2026

Victoria University of Wellington offers 110 fully funded doctoral scholarships annually in fields like Architecture, Business, Engineering, Health, Law, and more. Open to international and domestic students, the scholarship provides a $30,500 annual stipend plus tuition fees for up to three years. Applications close on 1 March, 1 July, and 1 November each year. Eligibility and tenure depend on enrollment duration and committee discretion

Wellington Doctoral Scholarship Regulations:

To encourage postgraduate research Victoria University of Wellington offers scholarships to those about to begin their doctoral studies. These scholarships are awarded on academic merit and are open to New Zealand and international students in any discipline.

All offers of Wellington Doctoral Scholarships consist of a $30,500 per annum stipend plus domestic tuition fees for up to three years.

The scholarships are offered to the top ranked candidates in any Doctoral admission and scholarship application round throughout the year. To be considered for a Wellington Doctoral Scholarship the applicant must have a strong academic record and excellent academic references, or:

• demonstrated potential for high quality research; or
• a record of publication in high quality journals commensurate with experience and education.

Other considerations may be taken into account such as the alignment between the applicant’s research interests and those of the School, Institute or Centre. Strategic interests including collaboration between institutions or research involving potential joint initiatives with the research and business communities may also be factors in determining offers of scholarship.

Applicants other than those who have completed all of their study at Victoria University of Wellington must include a copy of their academic record from other institutions with the application form.

Currently the closing dates are 1 March, 1 July and 1 November. All applicants for the scholarship will be notified by email of the outcome within six to eight weeks of the closing date for applications.

Terms and conditions:

These terms and conditions apply to Victoria Doctoral Scholarships awarded from 2015 and Wellington Doctoral Scholarships from 2020.

• Applications are accepted from those who are eligible at the time of application, or who reasonably expect to become eligible within three months of their application, to register as a candidate for a Doctoral degree at Victoria University of Wellington.
• Applicants would normally be expected to have completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with academic distinction equivalent to a First Class Honours degree at a New Zealand University.
• The scholarship offer shall lapse in the event that the scholarship recipient does not gain full enrolment as a Doctoral student within 15 months of first enrolment.
• Academic staff at Victoria University of Wellington or any other University may not hold a Welington Doctoral Scholarship while currently employed.
• Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of academic merit by the University Research Scholarships Committee (the Committee), a sub­ committee of the University Research Committee.
• Every scholarship shall be tenable at Victoria University of Wellington for a period of up to three years except as otherwise provided in this statute. If a recipient submits within the tenure of the Scholarship, stipend payments will cease no more than one month after submission.
• If an applicant has already been enrolled for a PhD at Victoria University of Wellington for more than six months at the time when the offer of a scholarship is made, the maximum length of tenure of the scholarship will be reduced at the discretion of the Committee.
• Scholarship recipients are required to sign a Wellington Doctoral Research Scholarship Contract. The administrative supervisor and the primary or Victoria University of Wellington supervisor will also sign the contract to indicate that they are aware of the terms and conditions of the scholarship and the contribution to the School required by this award.
• The tenure of every scholarship shall commence on a date to be determined in each case by the Faculty of Graduate Research after discussion with appropriate School and supervisor. The date of commencement shall normally be no later than six months after the scholarship has been accepted by the scholarship recipient for domestic students and nine months for international students.
• The Committee may grant a scholarship recipient a deferment of the commencement of the scholarship for longer periods if it considers that such a deferment would benefit the scholarship recipient’s programme of research and the University.
• Tuition fees will be paid on upon registration by the Scholarships Office.
• Scholarship recipients must inform the Faculty of Graduate Research of any other awards held.
• Approval for the co-tenure of awards of greater than a total one third of the value of this scholarship stipend may result in a reduction in the value of the Wellington Doctoral Scholarship stipend. Faculty Research Grants are not considered under these regulations to constitute an award.
• Scholarship recipients shall be required to maintain full time enrolment and devote themselves full-time to their programme of research during the tenure of the scholarship and may not hold a position of emolument. However, domestic students for whom socially compelling reasons make part-time enrolment preferable, may apply to hold the scholarship on a part-time basis pro-rated.
• Approval may be given for scholarship recipients to undertake paid employment for up to a maximum of 600 hours in any one calendar year. All requests to undertake part­ time employment must be supported in writing by the supervisor(s) and Head of School.
• Once the period of tenure of a scholarship has commenced, the Faculty of Graduate Research may, grant a scholarship recipient a suspension of their scholarship for a period not exceeding six months or a total of twelve months during the first three years of registration. As the monthly stipend is paid in advance the recipient must provide notification in advance of the suspension. In most cases the scholarship suspension will coincide with a formal suspension from their Doctoral enrolment. Scholarship recipients must ensure that any commitments related to their work experience are discussed with the Head of School before the suspension is agreed.
• A scholarship shall be terminated if a scholarship recipient ceases to resume the aforesaid programme of research within one month of the last day of the period of the suspension.
• The scholarship recipient must complete six monthly reports outlining their progress to date and ensure that copies of these reports are available to the Scholarships Office.
• The Committee may at any time suspend or terminate a scholarship, or require the forfeiture of such proportion of the scholarship emolument as it may determine, if the scholarship recipient is not diligently pursuing their programme of research and is not making satisfactory progress, has violated the University Statute on Conduct, or has failed to comply with any of the terms and conditions on which the scholarship was awarded and of their Doctoral Scholarship Contract.
• At the discretion of the Committee, the application of any of the terms and conditions of a Wellington Doctoral Scholarship may be modified or relaxed in special circumstances or in order to avoid hardship to any scholarship recipient or misuse of the scholarship funding.
• The Committee shall review these Terms and Conditions from time to time.

How to apply:

Prepare any documents you might need for each application:

• The required documents are listed in the regulations under ‘Scholarship specific documentation’. References should be requested through the request section of the application. Personal statements are documents you write to promote yourself. For more information see references and personal statements.
• If you are applying as a school leaver, you will need your NSN Number (National Student Number) or codes for other qualifications (IB and CIE).
• Each scholarship will be slightly different so you may need to tailor each document to suit the criteria. Scholarships are highly competitive—this is an opportunity to tell us why you deserve the scholarship.

Once you find a scholarship you’d like to apply for, look for the ‘Apply online’ link in the scholarship’s details found under the heading ‘Application process’. This link is usually available a month before the closing date. School Leaver Scholarship applications will open about 10 weeks prior to the closing date.

When you select ‘Apply online’, you’ll be directed to the online application system, called CommunityForce. When you click ‘Apply’ you’ll be prompted to login to the portal.

Deadline: 1 March, 1 July and 1 November