Arthritis NZ Mateponapona Aotearoa Summer Scholarships

The purpose of the Arthritis NZ Summer Scholarships programme is to support students who are undertaking arthritis-related research whilst being supervised by an experienced research professional working in academia, health service provision, and other types of institutional organisations. Arthritis NZ uses its research funding programme to achieve our key research objectives, including to contribute to the body of research that seeks to determine the cause of arthritis, prevention of arthritis, improvement of early diagnosis, and treatment of all forms of arthritis. The Summer Scholarships are granted for small research projects that are conducted over the course of a 10–12-week period with the intention of enabling students to develop valuable research skills and a deeper understanding of issues relating to arthritis and associated health.

Applications

• Applications are to be completed and received from supervisors of proposed research projects.
• Please note that all applicants must complete the Arthritis NZ Summer Scholarships application form. A maximum of five pages is allowed per application.
• All applicants must also include a copy of their CV with their application using the template that is provided (also a five-page maximum).
• Students must be enrolled at a New Zealand university or polytechnic (or other type of recognised institution) and be in their final year of study at undergraduate level or above.
• Research projects must be related to arthritis with the precise topic to be determined by a supervisor(s). Research projects must also clearly align with Arthritis NZ’s key research objectives and our Research Action Plan (please seehttps://www.arthritis.org.nz/research-objectives-and-action-plan/ for more details). Please note that this plan is currently under development.
• All applications must be submitted to our research@arthritis.org.nz email address by 5pm on Tuesday 11th August 2026.
• Those awarded a Summer Scholarship will need to submit their report via an online Microsoft Forms link following completion of their project (new process in 2026).

Additional Information

For further information about our Summer Scholarships programme, please click on the following link: https://www.arthritis.org.nz/our-work/research/current-and-upcoming-grant-rounds#summer-scholarships.

Please also note that applicants are also able to download these documents from our website as part of the application process. These are the one-page Advisory for our 2026/2027 Summer Scholarships round, our Summer Scholarships application template, our Information and Conditions Form, and the CV template that is to be used by all applicants. Additionally, from this year those awarded a Summer Scholarship will need to submit their report via an online Microsoft Forms link following completion of their project.

For more information please contact: Dr Richard Griffiths, Research Manager at Arthritis NZ. Phone: 027 293 6709. Email: richard.griffiths@arthritis.org.nz.