WELLINGTON, June 12 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Paul Goldsmith on Monday announced the recipients of the latest Prime Minister's Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) funding round.
A total of 202 New Zealand students from universities and institutes of technology have been selected to travel to top institutions throughout Asia as part of the second 2016/17 scholarship round.
"The recipients of these scholarships will be ambassadors for New Zealand as they head overseas and form global connections that will last a lifetime," Goldsmith said in a statement.
"Building new connections and networks, developing a deeper understanding of language and culture, and gaining an international perspective in their areas of expertise are just some of the benefits for these students," Goldsmith said.
Individual recipients and groups of up to 20 students will carry out a wide variety of student exchanges, undergraduate or postgraduate study, research or internships in 10 countries throughout Asia, with China, Japan and Singapore the top three destinations in this funding round, Goldsmith said.
Study programs for the 59 individual students include a one-semester exchange at National University of Singapore, an internship at the Hong Kong office of a global law firm, a Master of International Studies at Seoul National University in South Korea, and two years' postdoctoral research at the Institute of Robotics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.
A further 143 students were awarded a scholarship as part of 12 group applications, according to the statement.
Since it was set up in 2013, the PMSA has enabled more than 1,100 New Zealand students to experience an international education in Asian countries, he said.
Annual funding for the PMSA increased to 3 million NZ dollars (2.16 million U.S. dollars) in 2016/17, and is due to increase to 3.5 million NZ dollars (2.5 million U.S. dollars) in 2018/19, reflecting New Zealand's growing education connections with Asia and the high calibre of applicants, Goldsmith said.
Applications for the first 2017/18 PMSA will open on June 16, and will close on Sept. 30.
