Overview
The decision to undertake postgraduate study is a bold declaration that you intend to be a serious participant in your chosen field. To graduate with a Master's degree from Otago is to be equipped with advanced knowledge and sophisticated skills that will serve you well for the rest of your life.
Masters' degrees at Otago are research-based and are designed to equip you either to move into employment or to advance seamlessly to a doctoral study programme. At Otago we regard research as the heart of our academic activity and we believe that the synergy we have achieved between research and our graduate degree programmes contributes powerfully to our reputation as one of New Zealand's two outstanding research universities.
We have many mechanisms in place to foster and support research and we are proud of our world leadership in a number of key research areas. Our reputation for academic excellence in teaching and research is a major factor in attracting students and staff from throughout New Zealand and from around the world. There are over 1,000 Masters' students currently enrolled, and they are studying in a more varied range of subjects than is available in any other university in New Zealand.
Find a Supervisor
You can search on the Otago expertise database to find a supervisor or an expert in your area of research.
The Health Sciences Expertise Database enables you to search for expertise within the Division of Health Sciences.
Resources & Support
- The University's policy regarding resources for graduate research candidates
- Copyright guidelines for research students (in PDF format)
- Disability Information and Support
- Peer Support Groups (in PDF format)
- Follow this link to a PDF document detailing the vast array of support available to graduate research candidates across the University.
- Māori and indigenous Pacific Peoples Conference Funding.
Masters' Supervision
- Student Supervisor Agreement (in MS Word format)
- Sample Checklist for Masters' Candidates and Their Research Supervisors (Word format, 29k)
- Student perceptions of quality supervision (PDF format, 1MB)
Qualities of Postgraduate Research Candidates
Administrative Forms
- Thesis declaration form (for soft-bound copies) (68k in PDF format)
- Author declaration form (for hard-bound and electronic copies) (24k in PDF format)
- Postgraduate Travel Procedure and Forms
Postgraduate Publishing Bursaries
Postgraduate Publishing Bursaries are available to support candidates to complete papers arising from their research during the examination period. Eligibility conditions and regulations are appended to the application form.
- Frequently asked questions about Postgraduate Publishing Bursaries (in PDF format)
- Postgraduate Publishing Bursary (Master's) Application Form (including also the regulations)
- Postgraduate Publishing Bursary (Master's) Report Form
- Postgraduate Publishing Bursary (Master's) Regulations (in PDF format)
Policies
- Policy for Intellectual Property Rights of Graduate Research Students
- Guide to policies surrounding plagiarism and email/internet usage (112k in PDF)
- Proof-reading of Theses Guidelines
Scholarships and Awards
Further information about Scholarships and Awards is available elsewhere on this website.
Thesis Guides
Consult the Library’s Thesis Information guide for details on copyright obligations and rights, organising, completing, submitting and depositing your bound and electronic thesis copies.
The Graduate Junction
The Graduate Junction is an international networking site developed especially for graduate research students. Connecting and networking with other research students is vitally important and we are thrilled with the opportunities that The Graduate Junction will provide for Otago's PhD and research Masters candidates.
For more information, please download the Graduate Junction brochure (PDF format).
Graduate Research School
The Graduate Research School provides oversight of the University's graduate research programmes.
