Home >

For Students

Scholarships and Studentships

We have a number of studentships on offer to pre-doctoral students. The studentships fall into two categories: Partnering for Innovation Summer Studentships and Bright Ideas Studentships.

Partnering for Innovation Summer Studentships
 

What is the goal of the Studentship?
These studentships are designed to give students an introduction into the processes involved with evaluating and developing a technology-based idea for commercialisation. During the studentship you will be introduced to exciting research that is happening in diverse areas across the University of Otago.

What you will do?
You will participate in the Ideas Stocktake that Partnering for Innovation is conducting across the University of Otago. This involves interviewing a series of researchers and compiling a report about the commercial potential of the ideas. To achieve this you will be working closely with Dr Peter Fennessy, the Entrepreneur in Residence, and Dr Victoria Jameson. To ensure you have the necessary skills, in the first week of the studentship you will complete a course on taking a 'Bright Idea' from the research stage through to the market. This will cover interviewing, information gathering, report writing, intellectual property and patents. You will be required to write a final report at the end of the studentship.

Eligibility and Selection
All students who have completed their 300-level papers are eligible to apply. Students should have at least a B grade average and will only be considered if they have the appropriate background. This studentship meets the criteria for the Applied Science APPS 499 placement.

Placement Details
These studentships are 10 weeks long and are to be carried out in Dunedin over summer from 16 November 2009. The Stipend is $5000 tax-free and will be paid in instalments; the final payment will only be paid once a final report has been received. During this studentship you will be dealing with confidential and commercially sensitive information and will be required to sign a Confidential Non Disclosure Agreement before you commence work. All work will be completed on University of Otago computers on campus.

The completed, signed Partnering for Innovation Summer Studentship Application Form and a copy of your academic transcript must be submitted to Victoria Jameson by 5 pm on August 28. You will be notified of the outcome of your application in early October. Contact Victoria for more information.

Bright Ideas Studentships

What is the goal of the Studentship?
The Bright Ideas Studentships are designed to give students their first introduction into the commercialisation of novel technology ideas.

What you will do?
These studentships enable students to develop commercial aspects of their research under the guidance and mentoring of the Entrepreneur in Residence, Dr Peter Fennessy. What you do will depend on the idea and it’s stage of development. You will learn about and research factors that need to be considered in commercial development of technology-based ideas including, if appropriate, Intellectual Property, identifying competitive advantage and opportunity, market identification and analysis, route to market. You could also be involved with prototype design and development. This is a practical studentship and you will be doing the work yourself, with guidance from Partnering for Innovation. 

Eligibility and Selection
The studentships are available to any student who has completed a Bachelors, Honours or Masters degree and are available for any length of time from 1 to 3 months although longer periods may be considered. The studentship application must be accompanied with an Ideas Stocktake & Bright Ideas Concepts application form completed either by the student or by the supervisor overseeing the project. Further information on the Bright Ideas Concept Application is available in Processes.

There is no closing date for the Bright Ideas Studentship. For your application to be considered, the completed, signed Bright Ideas Studentship Application and Bright Ideas Application Form must be submitted to Victoria Jameson. Contact Victoria for more information.

Contact Details: Victoria Jameson

Email:   victoria.jameson@otago.ac.nz
Phone:   03 479 8454
Mail:      Partnering for Innovation
Centre of Entrepreneurship
University of Otago
PO Box 56
Dunedin 9054