Please note: These scholarships are subject to funding availability and are reviewed each year. The UC Scholarships Office administers most of these scholarships. Please search our scholarships database for all scholarships currently available.
Opportunity
General Doctoral scholarships
04 March 2024
UC offers a diverse range of scholarships to support students who are studying towards a research doctoral degree with us. Learn more about general doctoral scholarships at UC.
APPLY NOW
SCHOLARSHIP NAME | VALUE | WHO IS ELIGIBLE | ADDTIONAL INFORMATION | CLOSING DATE |
| Brownlie Scholarship | The scholarship provides financial assistance at a value of NZ$5,000 per 120 points of enrolment. | Candidates must have been offered a UC Core Doctoral Scholarship in the year of the award. | The scholarship is awarded to the first-ranked candidate for the UC Doctoral Scholarship in the year of the award. | Considered with the UC Doctoral Scholarship (rolling) |
| Doctoral Graduate Women Canterbury (Inc.) Trust Board Scholarship | $30,000 per 120 points of thesis enrolment (increased to $32,000 in 2025). The recipient may elect to deduct their tuition fees from this amount. | Candidates must have been offered admission to a doctoral programme at the University of Canterbury. | Candidates must be citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand who identify as female. | Considered with the UC Doctoral Scholarship (rolling) |
| Dr Russell Smith Memorial Scholarship | $2,000 per annum | Applicants must be blind or have a significant visual impairment. | The scholarship is available only in even-numbered years, to undergraduate and postgraduate students who are enrolled full-time at the University of Canterbury. | 31-Mar |
| Ngai Tahu Research Centre Doctoral Scholarship | $30,000 per 120 points of thesis enrolment (increased to $32,000 in 2025) + tuition fees for thesis enrolment only, at the Aotearoa New Zealand domestic rate | For a research doctoral degree programme that is facilitated by the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre. Recipients may be studying any discipline at the University, but preference will be given to applicants whose projects promote mātauranga Māori and that are linked to the mission and current research foci of the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre. | 31-Oct | |
| Rātā Foundation Scholarship | $24,500 per 120 points of thesis enrolment + tuition fees for thesis enrolment only, at the Aotearoa New Zealand domestic rate | Candidates must have been offered admission to a doctoral programme at the University of Canterbury and have a permanent address that is in one of the four regions of the Rātā Foundation. | For the boundaries of the four regions of the Rātā Foundation, see https://www.ratafoundation.org.nz/who-we-are | Considered with the UC Doctoral Scholarship (rolling) |
| UC Doctoral Scholarship | $30,000 per 120 points of thesis enrolment (increased to $32,000 in 2025) + tuition fees for thesis enrolment only, at the Aotearoa New Zealand domestic rate | Candidates must have been offered admission to a doctoral programme at the University of Canterbury. | Candidates must have completed an appropriate qualification at a level judged to be equivalent to a bachelor’s or master’s degree with first-class honours at University of Canterbury (equivalent to a UC GPA of at least 7.0). | Considered with the UC Doctoral Scholarship (rolling) |
| UC Doctoral Scholarship for Students with Disabilities | $30,000 per 120 points of thesis enrolment (increased to $32,000 in 2025) + tuition fees for thesis enrolment only, at the Aotearoa New Zealand domestic rate | Candidates must have been offered admission to a doctoral programme at the University of Canterbury and have a disability that significantly impairs their ability to study. | 15-Oct | |
| UC Matariki Doctoral Scholarship | $30,000 per 120 points of thesis enrolment (increased to $32,000 in 2025) + tuition fees for thesis enrolment only, at the Aotearoa New Zealand domestic rate | Candidates must have been offered admission to a doctoral programme at the University of Canterbury and have whakapapa Māori. | Considered with the UC Doctoral Scholarship (rolling) | |
| UC Pacifika Doctoral Scholarship | $30,000 per 120 points of thesis enrolment (increased to $32,000 in 2025) + tuition fees for thesis enrolment only, at the Aotearoa New Zealand domestic rate | Candidates must have been offered admission to a doctoral programme at the University of Canterbury and be Pasifika. | Considered with the UC Doctoral Scholarship (rolling) | |
| Helen Macmillan Brown Bursary | $2,500 (up to ten) | Female first-year undergraduate students who are residents of a hall or village that the University recognises as being affiliated with the University. | 15-Aug | |
| HOPE Foundation Scholarship in Ageing Research: University of Canterbury | $6,000 | Applicants must be enrolled, or intending to enrol, full-time or part-time at the University in a programme for a master’s or doctoral degree with research on a topic related to ageing. | Applicants must be New Zealand citizens or holders of New Zealand residence class visas. | 31-Oct |
| Sir William Hartley Scholarship | $20,000 per annum for 3 consecutive years | The scholarship is tenable by students engaged in study for a research doctoral degree at a European university. Preference is given to those who will be studying at the University of Cambridge, the University of London, or the University of Oxford. | Applicants must be female. | 1-Nov |
| Westpac Southland Scholarship | $1,000 for 2 years | Applicants must have completed at least one academic year at the University of Canterbury and whose earlier youth was spent substantially in Southland and whose parents, or guardian, are resident in Southland at the time of the award. | 31-Mar | |
| UC Foundation Doctoral Publication Scholarship | $1,000 and $500 - check this on our database | Candidates must have been offered admission to a doctoral programme at the University of Canterbury. | Always open | |
| Edward Gibbon Wakefield Doctoral Scholarship | The value will be determined by the level of the Scholarship’s funds, including supplementation from Christ Church, Oxford, and should be sufficient to meet at least most of the direct costs associated with one year’s study at Oxford University. | Open to University of Canterbury doctoral students in all subject areas; however, preference will be given to applicants studying a subject in the Humanities, Creative Arts, Law, Music, or Political Science. Applicants must enrol in a doctoral programme at, or otherwise be attached to Christ Church, Oxford. | The scholarship shall be offered to a candidate who was born in New Zealand. | 1-Nov |
| Chalky Carr Scholarship | $10,000 | Applicants must have been affected by a cancer experience, either directly or through a close relative. | Applicants must be citizens of New Zealand or holders of New Zealand residence class visas and be intending or current full-time or part-time students in undergraduate or postgraduate degree programmes at the University. | 31-Oct |
