The Department of Conservation (DOC) is encouraging postgraduate students to apply for its natural and social science scholarships, with a focus this year on new and innovative technologies that generate conservation outcomes.
“We want to encourage fresh, innovative research to help Aotearoa New Zealand reach its conservation goals such as thriving indigenous species and ecosystems, and the enrichment of people’s lives through conservation,” said DOC’s Chief Science Advisor, Mike Bunce.
“Applications that align research with DOC and LINZ’s Long-term Insights Briefing – which covers remote sensing, AI and genetic tools – will be of particular interest to DOC this year.”
Mr Bunce says both mainstream science and/or mātauranga Māori approaches that map onto the departments 2023 postgraduate scholarship research priorities (doc.govt.nz) were welcome.
Eight scholarships worth up to $15,000 each are being offered. DOC is funding six scholarships and the remaining two are funded in collaboration with Tiakina Kauri (the Kauri Protection Agency within Biosecurity New Zealand) and the Environmental Protection Authority.
“This is the fourth year this scholarship scheme has run and there are now a cohort of early career researchers that are kicking goals in conservation – there is a buzz across the Department that we are able to help support students across the University sector,” he said.
Applications for the scholarship are open to fulltime or part time Master’s students enrolled at a New Zealand university or NZQA accredited tertiary institution, who plan to do research on a relevant topic in the 2024 academic year.
For application information, visit Postgraduate scholarship programme (doc.govt.nz). Applications close 2 October 2023.
