University of Otago Summer Research Scholarships provide practical opportunities for students to learn about research by working on projects under supervision over the summer period of November to February. Provision of Summer Scholarships is dependent on availability of divisional, departmental or external research grant funds.
Eligibility
- The Summer Research Scholarships are open only to students who are returning to study at a New Zealand university in the following year
- Students must not be receiving alternative scholarship support for the same project or any other project over the same time frame. Students may hold only one Summer Research Scholarship at a time
- Students who are enrolled in the research component of a master's degree or PhD are not eligible for a Summer Research Scholarship
- Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship students receiving a stipend for living costs over the same time frame are not eligible for a Summer Research Scholarship
Scholarship Programmes
Many departments run scholarship programmes to assist students who want to undertake research projects over the summer months, including:
- Summer Studentships at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
- Health Sciences SRS on the Christchurch campus
- Health Sciences SRS on the Dunedin campus
- Health Sciences SRS on the Wellington campus
- Externally administered summer research scholarships in Health Sciences
- Health Research Council (HRC) Māori Health Summer Studentships
- Health Research Council (HRC) Pacific Health Summer Studentships
Other summer scholarships and projects become available across other disciplines each year. Check with your programme's department to see if they are offering any other summer scholarships.
To enquire about summer scholarships applications, contact the administrator in the awarding department.
To find out about scholarship payments, email: scholarships@otago.ac.nz
Stipend payment information
The guidelines for Summer Research Scholarships were developed in conjunction with the Financial Services Division and the University's business advisors, and must be used to ensure tax and legal requirements are met when advertising and paying a tax-free scholarship.
Summer Research Scholarships Guidelines (PDF 317KB)
The Summer Research Scholarship Payment Form ensures tax requirements are met. Summer Research Scholarship payments will not be paid without a correctly completed form.
Summer Research Scholarship Payment Form 2024 (PDF 681KB)
Payments
The total emolument of Summer Research Scholarships may vary but is benchmarked to at least NZ$7,000 for ten weeks of research. Shorter time frames will be pro-rated against this benchmark, i.e. NZ$700 per week.
Tenures between four and six weeks will comprise two monthly payments, and tenures between seven and ten weeks will be three monthly payments.
Payments cannot be split between two account codes. Account codes must be open and active at least two weeks before the first payment date and remain open for the duration of the scholarship.
If the student is not enrolled at the University of Otago, the department will need to organise payments to the student.
When a scholarship is awarded, complete the Summer Research Scholarship Payment Form and email to: scholarships@otago.ac.nz for processing.
Payment dates
The dates of payments for Summer Research Scholarships this year are as follows:
- 21 November 2024
- 12 December 2024
- 9 January 2025
- 13 February 2025
Final payments
Some Summer Research Scholarships require a student to submit a final research report. A final payment can be requested to be held pending the submission of this report or any other research requirement. The final payment is included in the total scholarship and can be any amount. This will be deducted from the total scholarship awarded and the remaining payments will be divided by the two or three-month scholarship.
An example of a full 10-week scholarship payment would be:
| Payment 1 | NZ$2,100 |
| Payment 2 | NZ$2,100 |
| Payment 3 | NZ$2,100 |
| Final Payment | NZ$700 |
To release a final payment, email: scholarships@otago.ac.nz confirming the final payment is to be released, and supply the full name and student ID of the recipient.
Final payments should be made before 30 April. If the final payment has not been released by 31 May, the department will be contacted to discuss the delay.
Bank account details
Students are to enter their bank account number into their eVision portal. If they have not done this, share this link to the student: Add bank account details in eVision
Important information
- Check that the student ID numbers given are correct.
- Provide the student's name as shown in eVision, not the preferred name or known name.
- Account codes must be open and active for the duration of the Summer Research Scholarship. If an account code is not open at least two weeks before the first payment date, the payments being charged to that account will not be approved or processed.
- Payments cannot be split between two account codes. Journal if necessary and only supply one account code per scholarship. Students also cannot have more than one Summer Research Scholarship loaded against their name.
- Students who are completing a research master's or PhD are not eligible for a Summer Research Scholarship.
- Full supervision by a research-active academic staff member is required. If the supervisor is not a University of Otago staff member, the form must be signed off by the head of department to confirm the following statement:
"Where the supervisor is not a University of Otago academic staff member, I confirm that they have an active engagement with an Otago academic staff member." - If the Summer Research Scholarship is funded by an external research grant, i.e. a PL 'P' account, the form must be forwarded to the Research and Enterprise Office: research@otago.ac.nz to be authorised and submitted.
For further assistance, contact:
Peter Boston
Tel +64 3 4799779
Form submission deadlines
Send completed forms to: scholarships@otago.ac.nz by the following dates:
- 5pm, Tuesday 29 October for 21 November 2024 first payment start, OR
- 5pm, Monday 18 November for 12 December 2024 first payment start
Email and chat enquiries can be assigned to the Student Administration — Scholarships General queue in CRSM.
AskOtago SharePoint: Summer Research Scholarships