Cawthron Institute is offering three summer scholarships for tertiary students to work alongside our scientists on real-world research projects over the 2026-27 summer. This is an opportunity to gain hands-on research experience, develop practical research and data analysis skills, and experience what it's like to work as a professional scientist.
One scholarship (see scholarship project titled: "Determining the fish conservation values of restored wetlands") is offered in partnership with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand's Māori Centre of Research Excellence. Te Pītau Whakarei Karahipi is for undergraduate students of Māori decent.
Successful applicants will be based in Nelson for 10 working weeks, commencing after the end of Semester Two 2026 (mid-November), with a break over Christmas and New Year. Many previous scholarship recipients have gone on to complete postgraduate study and build successful careers in science.
Students are welcome to apply for more than one project, if you wish to do so, you must apply separately as each application is assessed on its own merits.
Details:
- Scholarship recipients will receive a $7,500 scholarship each.
- Cawthron's scholarship recipients will be featured by Cawthron as recipients of a funded summer scholarship.
- Students will be supported throughout their placement and integrated into Cawthron's research environment
- At the end of the placement, students will present their research through a presentation or written report
- Students will need to find their own accommodation, though assistance will be provided if needed.
- Other costs absorbed by Cawthron (e.g. desk, travel, field work, laboratory costs) as part of project budget.
Ecological surveillance and monitoring are often used interchangeably, but there are important distinctions between them. Surveillance focuses on detecting ‘abnormalities’, such as specific pests, pathogens or diseases. Monitoring is the routine collection of information on ecological communities or populations to understand their baseline ‘normality’. In marine biosecurity, both approaches are useful for detecting new introductions and understanding longer-term community interactions of introduced species.
This project leverages an ongoing seasonal biofouling monitoring study in Nelson Marina to understand benthic community change over time and support marine biosecurity surveillance. Standardised settlement plates are deployed and retrieved at regular intervals and processed to measure species composition, successional patterns, and temporal shifts in community structure. The study draws on an existing ~2-year time series, alongside archived specimens.
This scholarship project will collect biofouling data for Spring 2026; conduct the first analyses of inter-annual variability of biofouling communities in this programme; provide molecular validation (DNA-based assays) of key or challenging species identifications; develop site-specific taxonomic resources; and explicitly assess complementarity between this monitoring programme and the Nelson component of a national biosecurity surveillance system. The output will include recommendations for methodological and data processing improvements to develop this resource and leverage it for funding opportunities.
Student tasks:
- Participate in field work to complete settlement plate retrievals and deployments in Nelson Marina
- Conduct taxonomic identification of biofouling communities in the wet lab (supervision, training included)
- Analyse community composition data (2-year time series) using current and previous retrievals
- Perform molecular barcoding of unidentified or high-risk organisms from current and archived samples
- Analyse and interpret molecular data (e.g. sequence matching, species confirmation)
- Provide a short report on biofouling succession, non-indigenous species (NIS), integrated morphological and molecular findings for Port Nelson, and complementarity of monitoring and surveillance approaches
Student requirements:
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Interest in community ecology and taxonomic identification of marine organisms
- Interest in marine biosecurity and invasive species management
- Interest in molecular tools (e.g. DNA barcoding, PCR-based methods)
- Basic laboratory skills and attention to detail
- Basic familiarity with statistical programming software (e.g. R) and statistics, or a willingness to learn
- Field work participation
Please click "apply" to submit your application for this project. All applications are to be submitted via the Cawthron Careers page https://careers.cawthron.org.nz/ by 5pm Friday 28 August 2026.
You must include the following in your application:
Curriculum Vitae
- Relevant previous work experience.
- Letter of support/reference from a 2026 lecturer or tutor.
- Academic transcript with Grade Point Average (GPA).
Cover letter
- Your intended qualification to study for in 2027
Scholarships will be awarded based on merit and Cawthron reserves the right to award the number of scholarships for which it believes it has suitable candidates.
Eligibility to apply (for any of our scholarships):
- You must be a New Zealand citizen or resident.
- Enrolled at a New Zealand Tertiary institution.
- Intending to undertake full-time study in 2027. You may be continuing your Bachelors degree, or planning to begin an Honours, or Masters degree.
- Have completed their first year of study at the time of application i.e. currently taking subjects at 200 level or above.
Criteria for awarding these scholarships:
Academic achievement
- Overall Grade Point Average (GPA).
- Most recent semester Grade Point Average (GPA)
Applicant's background
- Subjects covered during study
- Work/research experience
- Future intentions
At Cawthron we strive for equitability and inclusion, if there are accommodations that we can provide to support you throughout the process, or for any questions or if you experience technical issues submitting your application, please email [email protected]
Please note all applications must be submitted through our careers portal and can't be accepted via the above email address.
