MEDIA RELEASE 20 March 2008
Top Doctoral Scholarship success for Victoria students
Four Victoria University students have been awarded Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarships in the latest round of funding
announced by the Tertiary Education Commission today. Bronwyn Wood, Adam Day, Matthew Weaver and Phillip Wong
collectively received funding of more than $350,000 for their PhD research. ViceChancellor, Professor Pat Walsh,
congratulated the students on receiving the prestigious scholarships that reward New Zealand’s best and brightest
postgraduate students.
“The importance of research for New Zealand, and of funding for it, has been in the spotlight over the past two weeks.
These scholarships will assist students to further contribute to their chosen discipline at a university that strives
for researchled excellence.”
Bronwyn Wood, a student in the School of Education Studies has been awarded almost $100,000 to research the role of
social studies education in developing the social attitudes and beliefs of New Zealand youth. Phillip Wong and Adam Day
will undertake their PhDs in the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, looking into reducing the
computational cost of the programcreator tool Genetic Programming, and understanding what it means to be computationally
random respectively.
Matthew Weaver, a student in the School of Psychology, will measure eye movement to determine what visual cues capture
our attention, and how much time is spent observing particular objects. Fortytwo students nationwide received Top
Achiever Doctoral Scholarships, collectively worth $4.4 million, for study at either a New Zealand or an overseas
university.
ENDS