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Marsden-funded Postgraduate Scholarships

Information about PhD and Masters students on Marsden contracts - what the values are, the duration of the scholarships, and the rules around partial funding and top-ups.

Postgraduate Scholarships


The Marsden Fund Council has decided to increase PhD scholarships to $35,000 per annum for three years and Masters Scholarships to $22,000 for a single year. As in previous years, these scholarships will also provide further support for students, with an agreement to pay their institutional fees for both qualifications.

  • These rates apply to any Marsden-funded students recruited to 2021 contracts onwards (i.e. awarded funding in the 2021 funding year, or later)
  • Marsden funding cannot be used to top up university scholarships to the new Marsden rates.
  • Marsden funding can be used to support PhD students for three years only and Masters students for one year only.
  • No extensions to student scholarships can be granted from Marsden-funded contracts (with the exception of COVID-19 related extensions, see below).
  • Marsden funding cannot be used to partially fund a postgraduate student – for example, supporting a PhD student originally funded from other sources, for their final year of study.

For postgraduate students on older contracts (up to and including the 2020 funding round):

  • The new rates do not apply to students recruited to these contracts.
  • Any postgraduate students appointed late to 2020 contracts should be appointed at the previous rates.
  • Marsden-funded students should remain at the same scholarship rate throughout the duration of their study.
  • Marsden funding cannot be used to top up current students to the new rates.

COVID-19: In accordance with any host institutions’ internal policies, Royal Society Te Apārangi allows for the redeployment of money held within a grant to be used to extend postgraduate students support for up to three months:

https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/marsden/mf-research-funding-covid-19-updates/research-funding-covid-19-update-6/