Celebrating top international scholars
Speech honouring International Doctoral Research Scholars, at launch function for 'New Zealand Educated' brand
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Speech notes for function honouring International Doctoral Research Scholars and launch of 'New Zealand Educated' brand, Banquet Hall, Beehive
It's a pleasure to be here to acknowledge International Doctorate Research Scholars and launch the new campaign around the 'New Zealand Educated' brand.
When the scholarship programme was announced in the 2004 Budget, the government had some specific objectives in mind.
We wanted to share the excellence of the New Zealand education system with the rest of the world, and bring the best from elsewhere to share their knowledge with us.
We wanted to attract more top international students to New Zealand.
High quality students from other countries help transfer knowledge and talent to us. The more top international talent we have in New Zealand, the more we can benefit from that talent and knowledge. We are certainly successfully attracting smart scholars. Hernan Roxa from the Philippines - who has been studying at Victoria University's Faculty of Commerce and Administration - had his research paper accepted for publication in an international journal. Two papers also qualified for presentation at a conference in Costa Rica and another conference in Mexico.
When we started this programme we wanted to improve the reputation and profile of the tertiary sector in New Zealand. A qualification from a New Zealand university ranks with the best internationally. In some niche areas, such as biotechnology, forensic science and marine engineering, New Zealand degrees are acknowledged as world leading. Students who come here discover the opportunity to study under internationally recognised academics and researchers in a wide range of disciplines.
Research topics include climate change, work place discrimination, pest management, genetics, and tsunamis - and much more.
Jianyu Chen from China is studying at Massey post-harvest problems with the Calla lily - our second largest export cut flower.
Serkan Ates from Turkey is doing research at Lincoln University into the best grazing management practices for annual clover pastures in spring and autumn.
Not only is the range of research disciplines impressive, but we are also drawing from diverse sources.
In 2004, when these awards were launched, we had 370 applications for study. Last year, as the target market widened and more scholarships were awarded, the number of applications received rose to over 530 from eighty countries.
Researchers have come here in some numbers from China, Germany, the US and UK, and others have arrived from as far as Brazil, Finland, Jordan, Cameroon and Estonia - as well as many nearer and more familiar neighbours.
And we know of benefits to New Zealand from the research already. If you are a National Geographic reader you will know about Jennifer Moore, who was doing research at Victoria into the mating habits of tuatara. She found that a few very aggressive males dominate mating in tuatara. Researchers wanted to understand this, so that they could help with tuatara breeding. So what they needed was a model of a tuatara they could put in the wild and watch, to see what would happen. Ms Moore - as part of her research - looked around Wellington and found someone who could build one: Weta Workshops, who we know for their multiple academy awards on films like the Lord of the Rings. Weta used the body of a sad tuatara who died last year to build the ultimate, super-realistic robo-tuatara, powered by tiny servo-motors. And they put it in the wild and watched what happened. Apparently what happens is aggressive tuatara come by and gape their mouths to intimidate other males - this passes for aggression among laid back tuatara. I have one or two parliamentary colleagues I think must be close relatives of the tuatara.
Already scientists are learning much more about the mating habits of tuatara as a result. So here we have a direct benefit for New Zealand - indeed for some of the oldest New Zealanders, most indigenous - and possibly the most aggressive.
Not only are we benefiting from this research, but the researchers coming here on the scholarships are speaking very highly of their experiences too. We are seeing increasing interest in top level research in New Zealand. The number of international students undertaking their PhD study in New Zealand has increased by half - from 685 in 2005 to 1085 last year.
As one who came to New Zealand and enjoyed a tertiary education here - then earned a Ph.D. at an overseas university before returning here - I have some personal experience of the benefits to be gained from tertiary education exchanges.
The bottom line for New Zealand is that the scholarships help connect New Zealand to the world. The flow of ideas and the bonds of relationships between people and institutions help to develop our potential and grow our economy.
In an Internet age we have become familiar with Metcalfe's Law, which states that the value of a network grows exponentially as the number of users grows. The principle has long been true. The more connections we have with the world, the more we are enriched as a society by the learning we gather and the opportunities we harvest.
We are living in an increasingly globalised world and we need to continue to find ways to be part of it. And the way we will earn our way as the world globalises is by investing in knowledge, skill, research and innovation.
These scholarships will help to increase our stocks of all these qualities.
Of course, because we are in a globalised world, we are in a competitive market to attract research talent, too. So we need to ensure our scholarships maintain competitiveness and prestige.
That's why the Cabinet has this week agreed to increase the value of the award. From 1 January next year the annual stipend will increase by two and half thousand dollars to $20,500. That, of course, is in addition to the full coverage of tuition fees, worth an average of $5000, health insurance, a book and thesis allowance, travel allowance and establishment allowance.
The Doctoral Scholarship programme is about sharing our academic and research excellence with the rest of the world, and bringing the best from elsewhere to share their knowledge with New Zealand.
There is much to be excited about in our tertiary sector. Budget 2007 made a very substantial investment in tertiary education to ensure we increase the quality of our tertiary system and help prepare New Zealand for the demands of a high-skill, knowledge-based economy. We are building a system that better fulfills our economic and social needs, and one that gives taxpayers better value for money.
A high quality education system will continue to help attract high quality researchers to New Zealand - and that is to be welcomed by all of us.
Thank you and I wish all of you who have come here to study well in your endeavours.
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Speech notes for function honouring International Doctoral Research Scholars and launch of 'New Zealand Educated' brand, Banquet Hall, Beehive
It's a pleasure to be here to acknowledge International Doctorate Research Scholars and launch the new campaign around the 'New Zealand Educated' brand.
When the scholarship programme was announced in the 2004 Budget, the government had some specific objectives in mind.
We wanted to share the excellence of the New Zealand education system with the rest of the world, and bring the best from elsewhere to share their knowledge with us.
We wanted to attract more top international students to New Zealand.
High quality students from other countries help transfer knowledge and talent to us. The more top international talent we have in New Zealand, the more we can benefit from that talent and knowledge. We are certainly successfully attracting smart scholars. Hernan Roxa from the Philippines - who has been studying at Victoria University's Faculty of Commerce and Administration - had his research paper accepted for publication in an international journal. Two papers also qualified for presentation at a conference in Costa Rica and another conference in Mexico.
When we started this programme we wanted to improve the reputation and profile of the tertiary sector in New Zealand. A qualification from a New Zealand university ranks with the best internationally. In some niche areas, such as biotechnology, forensic science and marine engineering, New Zealand degrees are acknowledged as world leading. Students who come here discover the opportunity to study under internationally recognised academics and researchers in a wide range of disciplines.
Research topics include climate change, work place discrimination, pest management, genetics, and tsunamis - and much more.
Jianyu Chen from China is studying at Massey post-harvest problems with the Calla lily - our second largest export cut flower.
Serkan Ates from Turkey is doing research at Lincoln University into the best grazing management practices for annual clover pastures in spring and autumn.
Not only is the range of research disciplines impressive, but we are also drawing from diverse sources.
In 2004, when these awards were launched, we had 370 applications for study. Last year, as the target market widened and more scholarships were awarded, the number of applications received rose to over 530 from eighty countries.
Researchers have come here in some numbers from China, Germany, the US and UK, and others have arrived from as far as Brazil, Finland, Jordan, Cameroon and Estonia - as well as many nearer and more familiar neighbours.
And we know of benefits to New Zealand from the research already. If you are a National Geographic reader you will know about Jennifer Moore, who was doing research at Victoria into the mating habits of tuatara. She found that a few very aggressive males dominate mating in tuatara. Researchers wanted to understand this, so that they could help with tuatara breeding. So what they needed was a model of a tuatara they could put in the wild and watch, to see what would happen. Ms Moore - as part of her research - looked around Wellington and found someone who could build one: Weta Workshops, who we know for their multiple academy awards on films like the Lord of the Rings. Weta used the body of a sad tuatara who died last year to build the ultimate, super-realistic robo-tuatara, powered by tiny servo-motors. And they put it in the wild and watched what happened. Apparently what happens is aggressive tuatara come by and gape their mouths to intimidate other males - this passes for aggression among laid back tuatara. I have one or two parliamentary colleagues I think must be close relatives of the tuatara.
Already scientists are learning much more about the mating habits of tuatara as a result. So here we have a direct benefit for New Zealand - indeed for some of the oldest New Zealanders, most indigenous - and possibly the most aggressive.
Not only are we benefiting from this research, but the researchers coming here on the scholarships are speaking very highly of their experiences too. We are seeing increasing interest in top level research in New Zealand. The number of international students undertaking their PhD study in New Zealand has increased by half - from 685 in 2005 to 1085 last year.
As one who came to New Zealand and enjoyed a tertiary education here - then earned a Ph.D. at an overseas university before returning here - I have some personal experience of the benefits to be gained from tertiary education exchanges.
The bottom line for New Zealand is that the scholarships help connect New Zealand to the world. The flow of ideas and the bonds of relationships between people and institutions help to develop our potential and grow our economy.
In an Internet age we have become familiar with Metcalfe's Law, which states that the value of a network grows exponentially as the number of users grows. The principle has long been true. The more connections we have with the world, the more we are enriched as a society by the learning we gather and the opportunities we harvest.
We are living in an increasingly globalised world and we need to continue to find ways to be part of it. And the way we will earn our way as the world globalises is by investing in knowledge, skill, research and innovation.
These scholarships will help to increase our stocks of all these qualities.
Of course, because we are in a globalised world, we are in a competitive market to attract research talent, too. So we need to ensure our scholarships maintain competitiveness and prestige.
That's why the Cabinet has this week agreed to increase the value of the award. From 1 January next year the annual stipend will increase by two and half thousand dollars to $20,500. That, of course, is in addition to the full coverage of tuition fees, worth an average of $5000, health insurance, a book and thesis allowance, travel allowance and establishment allowance.
The Doctoral Scholarship programme is about sharing our academic and research excellence with the rest of the world, and bringing the best from elsewhere to share their knowledge with New Zealand.
There is much to be excited about in our tertiary sector. Budget 2007 made a very substantial investment in tertiary education to ensure we increase the quality of our tertiary system and help prepare New Zealand for the demands of a high-skill, knowledge-based economy. We are building a system that better fulfills our economic and social needs, and one that gives taxpayers better value for money.
A high quality education system will continue to help attract high quality researchers to New Zealand - and that is to be welcomed by all of us.
Thank you and I wish all of you who have come here to study well in your endeavours.