Agnes Blackie Memorial Fellowship
The intention of the Fellowship is to bring an emerging, yet outstanding early career researcher to the Centre.
Agnes Blackie was the first female physicist appointed as a lecturer in a New Zealand university. She started service at the University of Otago (at the time a constituent college of the University of New Zealand) in 1919 and continued teaching even after retirement in 1958. More information on Agnes Blackie and her career can be found at the Royal Society Te Apārangi website. Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre calls for applications for the award of the prestigious Agnes Blackie Memorial Fellowship. Applications are open to all genders. The Fellowship will be tenable at any of the six university partners of Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre – Otago (host), Auckland, Canterbury, Massey, Victoria or AUT – and in any research area that aligns with the aims and research themes of Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre. Details of the Centre’s research are found at doddwalls.ac.nz/research and span areas of physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer science.
The Fellowship will be tenable for a two-year period and appointment will be made on the appropriate university’s Research Fellow or Senior Research Fellow scale depending upon experience with an expected start date no later than 1 January 2027. Recruitment and appointment procedures and approvals will follow those of the employing university. There may be a possibility for the position to be held in conjunction with a fixed-term lectureship subject to negotiation with the host university.
Eligible candidates must be within 10 years of completion of their PhD. Te Whai Ao is committed to inclusivity and equity and acknowledges career gaps. Please refer to this calculator to calculate your eligibility if you had career interruption. Candidates are responsible for identifying and obtaining an endorsement from one of the Principal or Associate Investigators within Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre. A list of whom can be found at doddwalls.ac.nz/ourpeople. Together with the mentor, the candidate will seek endorsement from the Department they wish to work for. For candidates whose research is laboratory-based, this mentor must also indicate that they have space available in their lab and that proposed work can be undertaken in that setting.
The intention of the Fellowship is to bring an emerging, yet outstanding early career researcher to the Centre, either to enhance research strengths or bring new ideas and directions. Te Whai Ao – Dodd-Walls Centre is seeking candidates who have demonstrated or have the potential for research excellence. Additionally, candidates must outline how they will spend 0.1FTE of their time developing and delivering STEM and research engagement to underrepresented students or community groups as identified in the DWC strategy. This fellowship comes with $30,000 ($15,000 per year) operating expenditure and $20,000 ($10,000 per year) operating expenditure for outreach activities. Te Whai Ao is committed to supporting ECR success from diverse backgrounds and has established a mentoring programme that the fellow can benefit from. The fellowship may only be held once.
Further information can be obtained from our website or via email from the Deputy Director Science, Harald Schwefel harald.schwefel@otago.ac.nz or the Director, Professor Frédérique Vanholsbeeck f.vanholsbeeck@auckland.ac.nz. For enquiries about outreach and community engagement, please contact Jessa Barder, jessa.barder@otago.ac.nz
Applications including a CV with structured reference list, one page research proposal abstract suitable for a broad assessment panel, a cover letter that also details future the planned community engagement and diversity-related activities, and a letter of support from your mentor endorsed by the head of the host department must be submitted via email to dwc@otago.ac.nz no later than 5:00 PM NZST Sunday 19 July, 2026.
Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre is committed to meeting its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and achieving equity outcomes for staff and students in a safe, inclusive and equitable environment. We encourage applications from traditionally under-represented groups, including women, Māori, Pacific, LGBTI, and people with disabilities. Te Whai Ao — Dodd-Walls Centre reserves the right to withdraw this fellowship should a suitable candidate not be found.
The Dodd-Walls Centre research focus is photonics, the generation, transmission, and manipulation of light, and the study of matter and energy at the quantum level.