The Summer Studentship research programme is a great opportunity to experience research first-hand. Often results are published as reports, media releases, or journal articles. Many of our summer students go on to other research opportunities.
Several of our leading researchers were summer students, and are now leaders in their field and experienced supervisors.
The programme provides you with the opportunity to work within an excellent research environment and to mix with researchers and postgraduate students who are working at the forefront of their fields. You'll become familiar with a complete research experience, from project planning and data collection through to reporting results in a public forum.
You will be assigned a supervisor to guide you through your project.
There are projects to suit many academic disciplines including medicine, sciences, humanities, and informatics.
How do I apply?
Project information will be available online in late August – please keep an eye on this web page. To apply for a project, please fill out the form that will be posted on the website with the project descriptions and return it to uow.summerstudentship@otago.ac.nz by 30 September. In the meantime, feel free to contact academics to discuss the possibility of undertaking a summer project under their supervision.
Who can apply?
You can apply if you are enrolled at any New Zealand Tertiary Education Provider for next year. Preference is given to University of Otago students, those who will be undergraduates next year, and those who have not had a Summer Studentship experience previously.
How and when do I get paid?
The value of the Scholarships are NZ$6,000, which is paid as a non-taxable educational grant during the studentship with the aim of encouraging students to take up a research career in New Zealand. You will receive four payments: in November, December, January, and April/March upon completion.
Structure of the Summer Studentship programme
Each project is approximately 10 weeks full‑time commencing in November and finishing in late-January to early-February with a two‑week break over New Year. A support programme is provided to students with a series a workshops. The Welcome and Poster Showcase Events are highly recommended for all students.
Key dates
Note the key deliverable dates and our poster showcase event: