Marsden-funded Postgraduate Scholarships
Information about PhD and Masters students on Marsden contracts - what the values are, the duration of the scholarships, and the rules around partial funding and top-ups.
Postgraduate Scholarships
The Marsden Fund Council has decided to increase PhD scholarships to $35,000 per annum for three years and Masters Scholarships to $22,000 for a single year. As in previous years, these scholarships will also provide further support for students, with an agreement to pay their institutional fees for both qualifications.
- These rates apply to any Marsden-funded students recruited to 2021 contracts onwards (i.e. awarded funding in the 2021 funding year, or later)
- Marsden funding cannot be used to top up university scholarships to the new Marsden rates.
- Marsden funding can be used to support PhD students for three years only and Masters students for one year only.
- No extensions to student scholarships can be granted from Marsden-funded contracts (with the exception of COVID-19 related extensions, see below).
- Marsden funding cannot be used to partially fund a postgraduate student – for example, supporting a PhD student originally funded from other sources, for their final year of study.
For postgraduate students on older contracts (up to and including the 2020 funding round):
- The new rates do not apply to students recruited to these contracts.
- Any postgraduate students appointed late to 2020 contracts should be appointed at the previous rates.
- Marsden-funded students should remain at the same scholarship rate throughout the duration of their study.
- Marsden funding cannot be used to top up current students to the new rates.
COVID-19: In accordance with any host institutions’ internal policies, Royal Society Te Apārangi allows for the redeployment of money held within a grant to be used to extend postgraduate students support for up to three months: