Auckland city waterfront with Sky Tower and high-rise buildings beside the harbour.

New Zealand Two annual rounds — typically 1 November and 1 March closing dates

Victoria University of Wellington Master's by Thesis Scholarship

This is the award that makes a New Zealand research Master's financially sensible, and it is systematically under-used by international applicants who default to taught coursework programmes. The Victoria Master's by Thesis Scholarship provides a NZD 15,000 stipend plus a fees contribution for students undertaking a full-time thesis Master's — a 120-point research degree completed in around twelve months under a named supervisor. Two things follow. First, the net cost of a research Master's at Victoria drops well below a taught one. Second, a thesis Master's is the standard entry route to a funded New Zealand doctorate, where international PhD students pay domestic tuition rates. Wellington's position as the seat of government also means policy, public-sector and cultural research topics have unusually good access to data and institutions.

Victoria University of Wellington

University-funded

emoji_events Award Overview

payments

Stipend

NZD 15,000 (~LKR 2,850,000)

savings

Fees

Contribution Toward Tuition

schedule

Duration

12 Months (Full-Time Thesis Master's)

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

workspace_premium

Strong Academic Record

A B+ average or better across the final two years of your Bachelor's, or in a completed Honours or postgraduate diploma. Sri Lankan Second Upper and First Class graduates are competitive.

handshake

Supervisor and Thesis Topic Agreed

You must be enrolling in a Master's by thesis with a supervisor who has accepted your topic. Approach potential supervisors with a short proposal before the scholarship round closes — this step decides the outcome.

public

Open to International Students

The scholarship is open to both domestic and international candidates. Sri Lankan applicants are eligible on the same terms, and holding the award strengthens the student-visa financial evidence.

trending_up

Route to a Funded Doctorate

A completed thesis Master's with a good result is the standard qualifying route into a New Zealand PhD, where international doctoral students pay domestic tuition — roughly NZD 7,500 a year — and doctoral scholarships add a NZD 30,000 stipend.

account_tree Application Process

Find a supervisor first

Identify academics at Victoria whose research matches yours and email a one-page proposal with your CV and transcripts. Applications without a supervisor in place are not competitive.

Apply for admission to the thesis Master's

Submit the admission application specifying the Master's by thesis pathway, not the taught coursework version. These are administratively different programmes.

Submit the scholarship application

Academic transcripts and degree certificates
Research proposal endorsed by the prospective supervisor
Two academic references
Personal statement

Award outcome

Decisions are typically communicated within six to eight weeks of the round closing. The award letter is useful supporting evidence for the New Zealand student visa financial requirement.

Student visa

Apply to Immigration New Zealand with the offer of place, proof of NZD 20,000 in living funds for the year, medical and police clearances, and compulsory health and travel insurance. Allow six to ten weeks from Colombo.

Why Victoria University of Wellington?

Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington sits in New Zealand's capital, minutes from Parliament, the Supreme Court, the Reserve Bank, MFAT and Te Papa. That concentration gives research students in public policy, law, international relations, economics and cultural studies direct institutional access that no other New Zealand university can match.