The Global Impact Industry Project is designed to provide real-world experience to UC Business School students, while at the same time enabling businesses interested in overseas expansion to benefit from their unique knowledge and expertise.
It is an in-person programme that involves a mix of domestic and international students working together in teams to undertake market research for Canterbury businesses considering entering a new international market or overseas businesses looking to enter the New Zealand market.
Teams will submit a report and give a presentation to the client at the end of the programme, designed to inform the expansion strategy of the organisation.
The final presentations will be judged by an expert from UC Business School, with input from the client, and the winning teams will get a share of a $1,500 cash prize pool.
- Awards for winning teams, including both team and individual recognition
- Completion certificate
- Real-world, hands-on experience with New Zealand businesses
- Opportunities to build connections with industry professionals, local businesses and culturally diverse peers
- A potential pathway to internships or future career opportunities
The Global Impact Industry Project is a great opportunity to gain experience and learn more about working with a New Zealand business. It also enables you to demonstrate what you can bring to local businesses. For example, a 2021 report found that 61% of South Island businesses surveyed believe that Asia is important to their future, but 57% identified a lack of language skills as a barrier and 51% identified a lack market knowledge. You are uniquely placed to fill this gap, and the Global Impact Industry Project allows you to showcase this.
“I'm from China and because of my real-life experience, I know about Chinese e-commerce platforms, I know how Chinese companies do marketing campaigns. And when I get to New Zealand it is a totally different commerce environment, but I can apply something I learned from the Chinese market to the New Zealand market, and this can provide the company with some innovation. By combining different models of thinking, it can create really interesting and creative ideas.”
- Jenny Jin, 2022 programme participant.
"The UC Global Impact Industry Project programme truly broadened my perspective and strengthened my leadership skills. The combination of academic insight and real-world projects gave me the confidence to tackle complex challenges and create meaningful impact in my career. It’s a transformative journey that I’d highly recommend to anyone seeking growth and purpose.”
- Jia Liu, Master of Marketing, 2025 programme participant.
The Global Impact Industry Project is a great opportunity to gain experience working in an international team on a real-life international business project. This is essential whatever your major, and whether you plan to launch your career in New Zealand or abroad, given how global and interconnected the world of business is today.
“As a first year student doing the Global Industry Impact program the entire experience was incredibly valuable. Through this program I linked my academic study to real world experiences. In this program I applied knowledge I was learning in lectures in real time. I also formed amazing connections with my group members and mentors along with our clients! I would highly recommend this program to any students who want to gain insight into the business environment.”
- Ella Douglas, 2024 programme participant.
“I was able to meet my lovely teammates and work closely with them, and make meaningful connections and friendships with them. I loved the support from the internationalisation team, and their advice was critical. I developed many of my different skills ranging from teamwork, communication, organisation, presenting, to client and mentor development, business understand and literacy skills, to research, and international entry to markets, marketing, management, consulting, regulation, and distribution pathways for entering into different markets and navigating business hurdles. Not only is this a great project and internship, one you can use in job interviews, CV, LinkedIn, but it also develops your many business, consulting, team, and presentation skills, and you get to network, meet, and communicate with so many different, interesting people of all backgrounds, disciplines, and talents.”
- Andrei Golovko, Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws, 2025 programme participant.
This is an unpaid programme towards which you are expected to dedicate at least 70 hours of your time. Its main purpose is to build your professional experience and skills.
The programme runs throughout Semester Two and has been designed specifically to not clash with the busiest academic periods of the semester.
2026 Key Dates:
- Programme launch - Friday, 24 July 2026, 3 - 5pm
- New Zealand Trade and Enterprise session, TBC
- First client meeting - Week 3, day and time to be confirmed based on availability
- International Market Research Workshop - Week 4, day and time to be confirmed based on availability
- Mentoring session - Friday, 14 August 2026, 3 - 5pm
- Second client Meeting – Term break, day and time to be confirmed based on availability
- Catch up with Internationalisation Team – Term break, day and time to be confirmed based on availability
- Presentation & Report writing workshop, Friday, 18 September 2026, 3 - 5pm
- Third client meeting- Week 8, day and time to be confirmed based on availability
- Catch up with Internationalisation Team - Week 9, day and time to be confirmed based on availability
- Final presentations - Friday, 2 October 2026, time to be confirmed based on availability
You need to meet ALL the requirements listed below to be able to apply for this internship:
- Current University of Canterbury student
- 120 points completed at UC (or equivalent at a partner institution) of which at least 30 points must be from Commerce courses (any two MGMT, ACCT, ECON, FINC, INFO, BSNS, or MKTG papers) OR 45 points completed at UC towards a UC Business School postgraduate programme
- At least one semester completed at UC with a B- GPA (or equivalent)
Where appropriate, to be able to successfully be selected, you may need to have additional interview with UC Business School Internationalisation Team to understand your intentions and passion of why you join this project.
UC Business School CQ Certificate
This is an approved experience under the UC Business School CQ Certificate. Students who complete the experience, as well as meet all other requirements, will receive a UC Business School CQ Certificate.
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