9 November 2016 at 9:00 am

Attracting PhD students to New Zealand

A new PhD page on the Study in New Zealand website encourages international students to pursue doctoral research at New Zealand institutions.

PhD screenshot photo

The PhD page highlights the initiatives that have given New Zealand an international marketing advantage in attracting PhD students from around the world.

The page promotes the five key benefits of studying for a PhD here. International PhD students:

  1. pay the same fees as domestic students
  2. can enrol their children as domestic students in our state schools
  3. can work full-time
  4. are able to apply for a 12-month post-study work visa after graduating
  5. entitle their partners to apply for an open work visa.   

Students can check out the page to find out how our PhD programmes are structured, discover the career benefits of studying for a PhD in New Zealand, read case studies from current international students and learn how to apply – there are links to the PhD areas of each university’s website.

Vietnamese student Tan Duc Do, for instance, decided to study undertake a PhD in Mathematics at the University of Auckland because of the inspiring teaching of his supervisor.

“Most of the lecturers here are working mathematicians, so they can give insight and inspiration into the subject,” says Tan.

For Jeffery Garae, a student from Vanuatu, the major attraction of studying Cyber Security in New Zealand was that international PhD students pay the same fees as local students.

“I was looking at doing a Masters here and when I read about the PhD fees I thought, ‘Whoa – that’s an even better advantage,’” says Jeffery.

The new PhD page also shines a spotlight on the academic and research performance of New Zealand universities, and on the wide range of subjects available for doctoral research.

What's in it for me?