21 February 2005

$4.4 million to support top researchers

Minister of Education Trevor Mallard announced today more than 40 students have been awarded Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarships worth nearly $4.4 million.

"The 44 students who have been awarded these scholarships by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) will receive just under $550,000 this financial year, and nearly $4.4 million over three years," Trevor Mallard said.

"This government is committed to developing world-class research in this country and these scholarships are designed to support research at PhD level in all disciplines and increase the supply of highly trained researchers and highly skilled graduates, by supporting the top 10 per cent of doctoral candidates."

Added to the allocations made in previous years, current and past Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarships winners will receive more than $9.9 million in 2004/2005.

The majority of the awards went to University of Auckland students with 17 successful applicants, Canterbury University with seven, and Otago and Waikato Universities each had six.

The successful applications were spread over a wide range of disciplines such as the neurosciences, which was the most successful with four scholarships, ecology, health sciences research and Maori studies/Maoritanga. A further 60 students are soon to be advised of their success in the Enterprise Scholarships programme.

Government funding is matched dollar for dollar by industry under this programme, which sees promising young researchers studying areas of potential commercial advantage.

“It is very encouraging to see the successful linkages being created between industry and the tertiary education sector through programmes like the Enterprise Scholarships,” Trevor Mallard said.

Applications have also just closed with the TEC for a new $8 million Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITP) Business Links Fund, which is another example of how the government is trying to develop better synergies between business and the tertiary education sector.

ENDS

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