Summer research opportunities at the University of Canterbury

The University of Canterbury is offering scholarships worth more than $750,000 to give students an opportunity to spend their summer vacation undertaking supervised research projects.

Students can select from a diverse range of projects such as the health and safety of female sex workers, the ethnic makeup of New Zealand rugby, using a mobile phone to interact with a home health care system, safety in school laboratories, and mapping snow and ice in Antarctica.

The Dean of Postgraduate Research, Professor Lucy Johnston, said approximately 150 scholarships were on offer for the summer of 2010/2011, each valued at $5000. Students will spend ten weeks on the projects.

“The scholarships provide students with hands-on experience in exciting cutting-edge research projects,” said Professor Johnston.

"We're inviting students to have a look at the research projects on the website, and if they find something that interests them they should apply for a scholarship.”

Scholarships are available in each of the University’s colleges (Arts, Business & Economics, Education, Engineering and Science), the School of Law, and University research institutes and centres (Biomolecular Interaction Centre; New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour; Human Interface Technology Laboratory; Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management; and the Van der Veer Institute for Parkinson’s and Brain Research).

In addition there are 23 projects jointly funded with external partners – Canterbury Rugby Football Union, GNS Science, Industrial Research Limited, Landcare; Science Alive, Syft Technologies, and Tait Electronics.

The scholarships are available to students who are considering enrolling at the University of Canterbury at 400-level or in a master’s or PhD programme in 2011.

Applications close on 3 September. Details on the scholarships can be found at http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/postgrad/summerschols/index.shtml.