Civil & Natural Resources

Civil and Natural Resources Engineering

Postgraduate Programme - Funding Assistance

There are a number of financial options available to assist students contemplating postgraduate transportation studies:

There are also some Undergraduate Prizes in Transportation, sponsored by the NZ Automobile Assn, Roading NZ and Traffic Design Group.

 

Postgraduate Scholarships and Awards

A number of scholarships are available in New Zealand for Transportation students:

UC Scholarships website:

In addition, there are many other general scholarships and prizes available at Canterbury for covering tuition fees, living expenses, and conference or research costs.

Note: Some scholarships are not available to either international or part-time students - please check the Regulations concerning each one.

 

Department Funding and Support

As well as scholarships, the Civil and Natural Resources Engineering Department also has some funding available each year to assist postgraduate students:

  • Regular contestable funding is offered for research expenses, e.g. field work, surveys, testing materials - discuss this with your supervisor.
  • Department funding is also available for conference travel/attendance by PhD students.

  • Full-time students can also be employed by the Department as Teaching Assistants. These involve helping run laboratories, tutorial sessions, or marking undergraduate assignments. Students can earn up to NZ$3000 annually this way.

Details of other facilities offered by the Department to postgraduate students

 

Industry Research Funding

 
Potential Research Topics...

For specific research topics, funding may be available from industry to cover research expenses and student costs. For example, an organisation may have a particular research problem that they would like investigated, but lack the human resources to do so.

Possible funding is available from:

If you are an industry organisation and would like a student to undertake some research for you, contact Alan Nicholson, Director of the Transportation Programme.

NZ Transport Agency's Annual Research Programme provides about $5 million each year for transportation research projects of national interest. There are opportunities to submit proposals to this programme to assist with student research - discuss this with your supervisor.

Note: Initial Expressions of Interest usually close around Mar-Apr each year for research starting the following July.

 

Employer Support

Many of our part-time postgraduate students are sponsored by their employers to undertake their studies. To date, a wide range of consultancies, contractors, councils and central Govt transport agencies have supported staff through our programme. It is worthwhile therefore to discuss the potential for this with your employer.

Our block courses are particularly good opportunities for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) by practitioners.

Typically employers pay students' enrolment fees and travel costs, as well as providing time off work to attend. Work resources (e.g. data, computers, photocopying) may also be made available for completing assignments and research, particularly where the subjects are of relevance to the organisation.

Note: There may be a requirement to successfully complete and pass the courses before receiving reimbursement and you may also be required to be bonded to the organisation for some time afterwards.

   Bill Rice, MET, supported by Opus

 

Further Information and Advice

For more advice about potential funding options at Canterbury, contact the Director of Transportation Eng.:
  Prof. Alan Nicholson
  alan.nicholson@canterbury.ac.nz
  Tel: +64 3 364 2233, Fax: +64 3 364 2758