Scholarships
Supporting future leaders in Antarctic research
Antarctica New Zealand works with a number of generous sponsors to award scholarships to postgraduate research students. These scholarships provide a means for new talent to enter New Zealand’s Antarctic research community. The scholarships are awarded annually, and include a stipend and logistics support to conduct or participate in research in Antarctica. The awards are competitive and attract students of a very high calibre.
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean - valued, protected, understood
Antarctica New Zealand recognises the value of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean as a unique environment for scientific research. We are committed to supporting the next generation of Antarctic scientists to make valuable contributions to the international knowledge base and understanding of Antarctic and global ecosystems and processes.
The Postgraduate Research Scholarship Programme is designed to support talented researchers to get off to the best possible start in their research careers, focussing on Antarctic and Southern Ocean systems. Antarctica New Zealand is generously supported in this scholarship programme by Ella Yelich-O’Connor and New Zealand Post.
Antarctica New Zealand Postgraduate Scholarships
Applications for these 2025 scholarships have closed
Key dates:
Register your intention to apply by Tuesday 18 March 2025
Applications and references are due by 5pm, Tuesday 25 March 2025
Ella Yelich-O’Connor Antarctic Doctoral Scholarship
Ella Yelich-O’Connor (Lorde) spent just over a week at Scott Base in 2019; visiting scientists in the field, learning more about Antarctica’s role in the global earth system and the impact climate change is having on the frozen continent. Following her trip, she has created a memoir and photo-book filled with photos and essays called ‘Going South’. Proceeds from the sale of the book fund the Ella Yelich-O’Connor Antarctic Doctoral Scholarship. The scholarship supports research that advances understanding, and promotes protection of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. In her own words, ‘this harsh environment feels eternal, but is dangerously vulnerable’.
- For doctoral research
- Stipend of $20,000 per annum over two years (total of $40,000); and
- Logistics support for one season of fieldwork in Antarctica (subject to programme availability, fieldwork must be aligned with an existing Antarctic field event)
New Zealand Post Antarctic Scholarship
New Zealand's presence in Antarctica is important to our nation and New Zealand Post has a long association with the continent – ever since Sir Edmund Hillary was postmaster at Scott Base in 1957. Supporting up-and-coming New Zealand scientists through this scholarship is a key way that New Zealand Post continues its close association with the white continent.
- For master’s or doctoral research
- Stipend of $10,000 over one year; and
- Logistics support for one season in Antarctica (subject to programme availability, fieldwork must be aligned with an existing Antarctic field event)
Important information on how to apply
2024 Scholars
Marie Hennequin - Ella Yelich-O’Connor Antarctic Doctoral Scholarship
University of Otago
Trace metal micronutrients: Regulating the Southern Ocean's carbon sink during the last glacial-interglacial cycle
The expansive Southern Ocean controls global climate by drawing down atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into the ocean’s interior via marine primary production within the ‘biological pump’. This process is limited by the supply of trace-metal 'micronutrients’, such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn), but future-climate projections are constrained by traditional 'macronutrient'-based productivity tracers that are not ideally suited to Southern Ocean climate reconstructions. Marie's research aims to understand how trace-metal micronutrients like Fe, Zn, and cadmium (Cd) affect marine productivity using advanced climate models and stable-isotope systems. Focusing on the last 140,000 years, she will analyse fossil plankton from Southern Ocean sediments to track micronutrient uptake over time. These results will help improve climate models and predict the Southern Ocean's effectiveness at removing CO2 during major climate changes.
Ruari Macfarlane - New Zealand Post Antarctic Scholarship
University of Otago
Structure and mechanics of the McMurdo Ice Shelf
Ruari's study aims to increase global understanding of the geometry and mechanics of polar ice shelves. It is crucial to have a deeper understanding of the response that ice sheets will have to climatic drivers, making it ever more important to improve modelling of worldwide sea-level changes in a time of global warming. His research will use various remote sensing techniques to study the Ross and McMurdo Ice Shelves, combined with data from ice cores collected by the Tere Tīpako Tio project. This will help enhance understanding of the differences within ice shelves, leading to better ice shelf models.
Jessica MacFarquhar - New Zealand Post Antarctic Scholarship
Canterbury University
Design and development of rapid ice sampling devices
Ice sheet evolution models are vital tools that provide quantitative hypotheses about the response of ice sheets to climate change. The current models have limited accuracy as they have a poor representation of how the anisotropy of glacial ice modifies flow patterns in ice sheets. With the current ice sampling technology, it is not possible to collect the amount and variety of ice core samples that are required for robust ice sheet models. Jessica's research will build on the design of current ice sampling equipment and use engineering design processes to create innovative solutions to generate devices that will collect ice samples. The equipment will be able to collect samples of multiple sizes from numerous depths and locations within a week, in conjunction with hot water drilling equipment. This research will increase the number of ice samples that can be collected in a set time, therefore increasing the amount of data available on glacier ice physical properties that will contribute to ice sheet models.