Grants and Writing Resources for Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

The International Institute of Modern Letters named winners for six student writing prizes in 2025. One student won the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing for her memoir The World Reversed, written for her Master of Arts in Creative Writing folio, and another took the Biggs Family Prize for Poetry. Each prize carried NZ$5,000.

Writing Prizes

Creative writers at the International Institute of Modern Letters compete for a set of named prizes, listed with past winners on the institute's prize winners page. They include the Biggs Family Prize in Poetry, the Brad McGann Filmwriting Award, the David Carson-Parker Embassy Prize in Scriptwriting, the Letteri Family Prize for Creative Nonfiction and the Modern Letters Fiction Prize. The Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing goes to the best folio in the Masters in Creative Writing. No application is needed, and the prize is NZ$5,000, subject to available funds.

Some departments reward strong work in their own subjects. Philosophy awards the Maurice Goldsmith Prize each year to the top undergraduate Philosophy major completing a BA and to the top Honours student in Philosophy, along with the Shaun Hopkins Memorial Prize in Logic for the highest grade in Philosophy 211.

Research Funding

Undergraduates get a first taste of research through Summer Research Scholarships. Students who have finished at least two years of an undergraduate degree, or who are in Honours or Part 1 of a Master's, spend up to 10 weeks on a project with an established researcher or research team. The tax-free stipend is NZ$8,000. Successful applicants enrol in SRCH 301, a not-for-credit course with no tuition fees.

Doctoral candidates can apply for the Wellington Doctoral Scholarship, and current candidates in financial hardship can apply for the Wellington Doctoral Hardship Scholarship. The Wellington Doctoral Submission Scholarship supports the final stretch before submission, at NZ$2,666.67 per month for up to two months. For conference travel, the Postgraduate Students' Association offers the PGSA Academic Conference Grant of up to NZ$1,000 to thesis students who are PGSA members presenting at an international conference hosted in New Zealand or a domestic conference on Māori topics.

Publishing and the Thesis Repository

The Victoria University of Wellington Law Review has a Student Editor-in-Chief and counts the Faculty's own students among its contributors. The Faculty of Law also publishes VUW Research Papers of Students and Alumni. Both are listed on the Law Review's page.

Graduating research students deposit an electronic copy of the thesis through the Library's self-deposit form, described in the Theses and Dissertations guide. Accepted PhD and Master's theses join the Library's collection and can be found through Te Waharoa, the Library's search tool. The university's open access research outputs are held in Ipu uru tūwhera, the Open Access Institutional Repository.

Help With Writing

Student Learning Te Taiako offers academic writing appointments with a Learning Adviser or Peer Adviser, plus a calendar of workshops. Its online StudyHub resources walk students through essay structure and a five-step essay process, and postgraduates will find guides on keeping a thesis or research paper on track. Ākonga Māori and Pasifika students have their own service area.

Doctoral researchers close to submission can apply for the Faculty of Graduate Research's three-day Thesis Bootcamp. It's an intensive writing environment shared with peers. One-day mini bootcamps, called Write, munch, and connect, are open to research students at any stage.

When a paper, thesis, or dissertation is ready for a final edit, our editors can help. See our Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington dissertation and thesis editing page, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.