New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship 2018

New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship 2018 offers scholarships to people from developing countries who are motivated to make a difference at home. The Scholarship will be offered to 2 candidates i.e. 1 for Master’s and 1 for PhD courses and the application has to be made online at MHRD's website. New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship 2018 is offered for Agricultural Development and Renewable Energy courses at Masters and PhD Levels. It is a fully funded scholarship and candidates cannot apply directly and need to apply through MHRD.

The Government of New Zealand will provide for the scholar's boarding, lodging, medical care and expenditure on tuition and other fees etc.

New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship Dates

• If the candidate is shortlisted by MHRD for the interview then they need to submit their research proposal along with the application form at the time of interview.
• The interview will be taken by MHRD and the research proposal & the application form of the nominated candidates would be sent to the concerned authority in New Zealand and they would be the final decision maker in selecting the candidates for the scholarship.
  

Participating New Zealand Universities

• Auckland University of Technology- NZ01
• University of Canterbury NZ02
• Lincoln University - NZ03
• Massey University - NZ05
• University of Otago - NZ06
• Unitec Institute of Technology - NZ07
• University of Auckland - NZ08
• Victoria University of Wellington -  NZ09
• University of Waikato -  NZ10

The candidates who are selected for the New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship 2018 will be awarded as the following.

• Tuition fee: The scholarship covers complete tuition fee of the institution or university.
• Living Allowance: Living allowance which will be paid fortnightly.
• Insurance: Medical insurance and Travel Insurance.
• Air Fare: Economy class fare between India and New Zealand.
• Other Support: Pastoral and Academic Support at the institution.
• Establishment Allowance will be offered to the candidates.
• Academic Support: Research and Thesis cost for many postgraduate research students.
• Support for Family: All the expenses need to be paid by the scholars themselves but some facilities will be provided to them, such as:
  • Work Visa.
  • Access to New Zealand Health Care.
  • Primary and Secondary education.
  • For family members from Pacific, some candidates might get an additional dependent allowance.
• Candidate must not hold any other scholarship along with the New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship.

The Application process for New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship 2018 has been started and the last date to apply online is 28 March 2018. There are four steps of filling the New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship 2018 Application form:

Apply Online

Step 1- Confirm Eligibility: Candidates must confirm their eligibility before filling the application form.

Step 2- Type of Institution and qualification: Students must decide about the type of Institution and qualification before applying.

Step 3- Offer of Place: After the selection of the institution, candidates must apply for an offer of the place of the New Zealand institutions.

Step 4: After filling in all the details of the application form candidates are required to submit the application to Ministry of Human Resource Development’s Website.

• No application needs to be sent via email or any other medium.
• Along with applying online, candidates also need to fill the New Zealand Scholarship Application Form and deposit 2 copies of the same at the time of the interview.
  
  • Candidates must submit their research proposal or study plan in 500 words describing their proposed research topic.

Documents to be uploaded with Scholarship Form

• Date of Birth Proof:  Self-attested copy of Date of Birth Certificate/ Class 10^th Certificate or any other relevant document indicating the date of Birth.
• Academic Records: Self-attested scanned copies of certificate, degree, mark sheets or any other qualifying examination.
• Official Explanation adopted by University: The Official explanation of the grades as per the system adopted by the University or Institution.
• Language Proficiency: A self-attested copy of documents showing required level of language proficiency.

The Size of all the Documents to be uploaded must be 530Kb or less.Scanned copies of documents will be uploaded only on NMEICT's Website. 

For Employed Candidates:
Employed candidates (if they wish to return) should get an assurance from his employer that they will be granted sufficient leave if they are awarded this scholarship during the study period in New Zealand.

• Employed candidates must obtain 'No Objection Certificate' from their employer. In the case of Government Employee, cadre clearance is mandatory.

Candidates who have earlier been abroad for study/ research/training:

• Candidates who have earlier also been to abroad for study/research/training of more than six months at a time either on a scholarship or on their own are also eligible to apply only if they have been in India for at least two years after their return from abroad as on 28 March 2018.
• Specific dates need to be mentioned while mentioning the tenure of past experience and stay abroad.
• Applicant should not avail any other Scholarship along with New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship.

References

Candidates need to submit 3 references at the time of the Interview on the official letterhead to support candidate’s scholarship.

• The references should not be older than 2 years.
• The references should be from a current employer, a former lecturer or a related government or community-based organisation.

Application Submission

The candidates want to avail the facility of New Zealand Commonwealth Scholarship 2018 can apply only through online mode. Application form can be submitted on the official website of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) latest by 28 March 2018.

From the candidates who applied for the scholarship, MHRD will conduct interviews to shortlist some applicants.Just fulfilling the minimum requirements stated above does not ensure that the candidate will be called for interview.

• Shortlisting: The applications of the two nominated shortlisted candidates will be forwarded to the Government of New Zealand for Final Selection.All the information regarding the shortlisted applicants will be made available on Ministry of Human Resource Development’s Website.The candidates are requested to regularly check their emails and MHRD’s website for any update regarding the scholarship.
• The Final Selection of the Candidates will be done by Government of New Zealand. The Decision made will be Final, and No objection regarding the same will be entertained. The final result for the scholarship will be announced in Mid October.

Selection Criteria

• Examination results
• Academic transcripts
• Referees' report
• Any academic prizes
• Other relevant activities
• Publications, where appropriate.

The quality of Study Plans:

For Master's Applications

• Extent to which the proposed course/institution of study has been well researched (including specific options and dissertation topics, where appropriate) and presented
• Clarity of presentation

For PhD Applications

• The extent to which the study programme has been well researched and thought out, including the identification of appropriate institution and supervisor.
• Degree of innovation
• Likely impact
• Clarity of presentation
• Relevance to field
• Feasibility

Deputy Educational Adviser
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Department of Higher Education
External Scholarships Division West Block-1,
2nd Floor, Wing-6 R K Puram New Delhi 110066 India
Tel: +91 11 2338 4501