NIWA supports three Post-graduate Centres of Excellence to attract the best students and train them at postgraduate level (PhD and MSc) in areas of growing demand:

• Aquaculture and Marine Ecology – University of Canterbury
• Chemical and Physical Oceanography – University of Otago
• Climatic and Atmospheric Research – Victoria University, Wellington

Major goals of the Centres

• to promote and enhance research excellence in core areas
• to attract the best students nationally and internationally in each core area
• to train students at the post-graduate level using the best expertise available in New Zealand in each core area
• to provide a national infrastructure within core areas and develop synergies between NIWA, the Universities and industry
• to attract funding, from both government and industry, into core areas.

Each Centre of Excellence has a Management Committee of University and NIWA staff, which provides a general oversight of the University/NIWA relationship. The Management Committee also has specific responsibilities, such as selecting which candidates will participate in the Centre's activities and identifying and securing sources of funding for candidates. Financial support is directed primarily at the PhD level, with research students funded through University scholarships, FRST scholarships (such as Bright Futures and Tuapapa Putaiao Fellowships), industry funding and NIWA.

To learn more about the individual Centres of Excellence, visit their websites or contact the Management Committee:

• Centre of Excellence in Aquaculture and Marine Ecology (CEAME)
• Centre for Chemical and Physical Oceanography
• Centre of Excellence in Climatic and Atmospheric Research