NPM and Fulbright New Zealand have established an enduring and successful partnership in recent years.

This relationship has created ongoing opportunities for Māori academics and students to study and experience life in the United States, not only building excellence in Māori research and development but also ensuring that Māori recipients can share their culture with their US contemporaries and contribute to the Fulbright programme’s vision of promoting mutual understanding through educational and cultural exchanges.

NPM and Fulbright New Zealand offer a range of awards to Māori academics, researchers, artists and students from across the country however perhaps the most illustrious opportunities for our network are the annual Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Graduate and Scholar Awards.

Valued at up to US$31,000 (plus NZ$4,000 travel funding) the Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Graduate Award is for a promising New Zealand graduate student to undertake postgraduate study or research at a US institution in the field of Indigenous development. Previous grantees for this award have included:

 *   Horiana Irwin-Easthope (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rakaipaaka)
 *   Sharon Toi (Te Mahurehure, Ngāti Korokoro, Ngāpuhi)
 *   Kingi Snelgar (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whakatohea, Ngāi Tahu)
 *   Natalie Coates (Ngati Awa, Ngati Hine, Ngati Tuwharetoa, Tuhourangi, Tuhoe)

The Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Scholar Award, is valued at up to US$37,500 and provides for a New Zealand academic, artist or professional to lecture or conduct research for up to 5 months, at a US institution in the field of Indigenous development. In recent years the award has been conferred on an outstanding list of Māori scholars, including:

 *   Associate Professor Rangi Matamua (Ngāi Tuhoe)
 *   Dr Eruera Tarena (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui)
 *   Dr Matiu Rātima (Whakatōhea, Ngāti Pūkeko)
 *   Dr Veronica Tawhai (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Uepohatu)

In 2016, NPM and Fulbright NZ have once again reaffirmed their ongoing partnership as part of NPM’s new Centre of Research Excellence contract through to 2020, and have committed to continuing to create opportunities for Māori academics, researchers and students to advance their research excellence over the next five years and together we would like to acknowledge the newest recipients of the Fulbright-NPM Graduate and Scholar Awards.

2016 Fulbright-NPM Graduate Award grantee Maia Wikaira (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa & pictured above) will be travelling to Stanford University to complete a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy, with a focus on freshwater law and Indigenous rights.

This year’s Fulbright-NPM Scholar, Dr Te Kīpa Kēpa Brian Morgan (Ngāti Pikiao, Te Arawa) from the University of Auckland, will be undertaking research at the University of Hawai’i, the University of Arizona and Colorado School of Mines, where he will be continuing his ongoing research into the Mauri Model Decision Making Framework and its application to Indigenous peoples.

Both Maia and Kepa join an ever-growing list of Māori who have shared their Indigenous knowledge and experiences with the world, bringing new perspectives and understanding to the highest levels of academia.

On Tuesday 28 June, NPM’s Co-Director Professor Jacinta Ruru together with past Fulbright alumni, academics and political leaders, acknowledged and celebrated their mutual achievements at the prestigious annual Fulbright New Zealand Awards Ceremony at Parliament in Wellington.

Apply here for the 2016 Fulbright NZ-NPM Awards. Applications close 1 August 2016 (Graduate Award) and 1 October 2016 (Scholar Award).

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