Wellington, New Zealand city skyline and harbour at sunset with high-rise buildings beside the water.

New Zealand Multiple annual rounds — check the AUT scholarships portal for the next closing date

AUT Vice-Chancellor's Doctoral Scholarship

New Zealand's structural advantage for doctoral candidates is that international PhD students pay domestic tuition — roughly NZD 7,500 a year rather than the NZD 40,000-plus an international Master's costs — and dependants receive open work visas and domestic school fees. Layer AUT's Vice-Chancellor's Doctoral Scholarship on top and the picture is a NZD 30,000 annual stipend plus full tuition for three years, awarded on academic merit and the strength of the research proposal. AUT is New Zealand's youngest university and deliberately applied in orientation, with research strength in sport and exercise science, health and rehabilitation, computing and AI, engineering, communication studies and creative technologies. Its Auckland city campus puts doctoral candidates in the country's largest labour market, and the three-year Post Study Work Visa applies on completion.

Auckland University of Technology

University-funded

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Annual Stipend

NZD 30,000 (~LKR 5,700,000)

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Tuition

Fully Covered for 3 Years

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Dependants

Partner Work Visa + Domestic School Fees

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

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Excellent Master's or Honours Record

A research Master's or First Class Honours degree with an A average or equivalent. Sri Lankan applicants normally present a Master's with a substantial research component.

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Supervisor and Proposal Agreed

You need a confirmed AUT supervisor and an approved research proposal before the scholarship application. Contact potential supervisors several months ahead — this is the step that takes longest.

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Open to International Candidates

The scholarship is open to both domestic and international applicants, and international doctoral candidates in New Zealand pay domestic tuition regardless of scholarship status.

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English Proficiency

IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with 6.0 in writing, or equivalent. Waived where your prior degree was taught and assessed entirely in English — a Medium of Instruction letter from a Sri Lankan university is accepted.

account_tree Application Process

Contact a supervisor and develop the proposal

Identify AUT researchers in your field and approach them with a two-page proposal and your CV. Supervisor agreement is a prerequisite for both admission and the scholarship.

Apply for admission to the PhD

Submit the doctoral admission application with the full research proposal, transcripts, degree certificates and references. Admission and scholarship are assessed together.

Submit the scholarship application

Full research proposal endorsed by the supervisor
Academic CV including publications and conference papers
Two academic references
Transcripts and evidence of research training

Award and enrolment

Successful candidates receive the stipend in regular instalments with tuition paid directly. The award letter substantially simplifies the student-visa financial evidence.

Student visa and family

Apply to Immigration New Zealand with the offer of place and scholarship letter. Doctoral students may bring a partner on an open work visa and school-age children who pay domestic fees — a significant advantage over most other destinations.

Why AUT?

Auckland University of Technology became a university in 2000 and has grown into New Zealand's third-largest, with around 29,000 students across three Auckland campuses. It is strongly applied in orientation, with internationally recognised research in sport and exercise science, health sciences, computing and creative technologies, and close ties to Auckland industry.