Seventeen students secure prestigious China Scholarship Council PhD awards

A total of 17 PhD scholarships have been awarded to doctoral students undertaking their studies at Massey.

The China Scholarship Council scholarships encourage high achieving Chinese students to apply for PhD study in Aotearoa New Zealand. Massey has a valued relationship with the Council, whereby the university provides PhD tuition to CSC scholars for up to four years and the CSC meets their travel, living and accommodation costs.

The collaboration is designed to foster research cooperation between Massey and Chinese universities by supporting doctoral students to undertake original research.

Since signing the agreement in 2017, Massey has been awarded 25 CSC doctoral scholarships. This year’s total of 17 scholarships is a significant increase on the numbers from previous years:

2018: 4 recipients
2019: 3 recipients
2020: 4 recipients
2021: 4 recipients
2022: 7 recipients
2023: 3 recipients

Of the successful recipients, nine are already enrolled with Massey. The remaining eight CSC scholars will be arriving later this year.

The successful recipients are spread across the university’s colleges, with eight from the College of Sciences, five in Massey Business School, three from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and one from the College of Creative Arts.

Xusha Chen is one of the 2024 scholarship recipients, and is undertaking her doctoral research within Whiti o Rehua School of Art on Massey’s Pukeahu campus in Wellington. Her research is exploring personal memory through performance photography in the post-pandemic era.

Xusha says she’s very grateful for the CSC scholarship.

“It has helped me alleviate a lot of financial burdens and allowed me to devote myself to artistic creation,” she says.

Born in Beijing, Xusha chose to pursue her PhD at Massey because her supervisor, Professor Kingsley Baird, aligned with her research direction. The well-established reputation of the School also had an impact on her decision.

“My study life at Massey is going well. I have to praise the studio provided by the School of Art for doctoral students. I like my studio very much, it’s very spacious and has enough space for me to create art.”

Another recipient, Jiayue Ma, is enrolled in a PhD with the School of Built Environment, where her research aims to produce a tool for supply chain decision-making of 3D printing construction companies.

Her supervisor, Dr Don Samarasinghe, who supported her CSC application, says Jiayue’s accomplishments are impressive, with her published work demonstrating her expertise in supply chain management in the 3D printing construction sector and her comprehensive analysis of COVID-19's impact on New Zealand's construction sector.

Jiayue says the scholarship will enable her to fully focus on her PhD research and not worry about her finances. She says this scholarship is a great honour, as it means her research is supported by the university and her country’s national education department.

Dean Postgraduate Research Professor Tracy Riley says, “We are delighted to welcome our largest cohort of CSC scholars. These prestigious scholarships support excellence in research, enabling innovation and originality.”