Career Opportunity | Scholarship
He Honoka Hauwai - Green hydrogen Scholarships
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu are strong supporters of green hydrogen as a potential future energy source, given its green environmental and social license footprint. With the leadership of Murihiku Regeneration (Ngāi Tahu – Southern leadership), the green hydrogen ecosystem in the South of New Zealand is being comprehensively explored. Based on this, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu have committed to supporting the German-NZ Green Hydrogen Alliance, as the purpose of the alliance aligns with the green hydrogen vision and aspirations of Ngāi Tahu. Read more about the collaboration here.
Green hydrogen will become a pivotal vector to carry and store renewable energy in a future net-zero carbon New Zealand. These scholarships (please see the details below) are focussed on the development and modelling of green hydrogen storage materials - ranging from metal extraction from minerals, to production, characterisation and hydrogen uptake measurement by the resulting materials, theoretical modelling of the hydrogen uptake, and techno-economic analysis of the roles of hydrogen in New Zealand’s energy system.
He Honoka Hauwai Masters Scholarship
Topics
Please see the topic desciptions below. Applicants should indicate the area and primary supervisor they would prefer to work with in their application.
Eligibility
Candidates must be of Māori or Pasifika descent. They need to have a science degree equivalent to the 4-year BSc (Honours) degree, or a postgraduate Diploma in Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Physics or equivalent. Experience in the appropriate research field will be advantageous. Candidates should satisfy the requirements for admission as a research master's candidate at the University of Otago.
Total value and tenure of the scholarship
The research master's scholarship will include domestic tuition fees as well as a stipend of $25,000 p.a. (tax-free) for one year.
How to apply
To apply, please send your CV, academic record, and the names and contact details of two referees to: Professor Sally Brooker ([email protected]) with “Masters in hydrogen storage materials – subtopic of your choice” in the subject line.
He Honoka Hauwai Summer Scholarships
Topics
These are available in the areas listed below, as well as in the development of hydrogen schools outreach activities and undergraduate lab experiments with Dr Dave Warren.
Eligibility, value and tenure of scholarships
Candidates must be of Māori or Pasifika descent and be continuing their studies at the University of Otago in 2025, to be eligible for one of these 10 week, summer 2024-2025, scholarships with a tax-free stipend of $8,000.
How to apply
To apply, please send your CV, academic record, and the names and contact details of two referees to: Professor Sally Brooker ([email protected]) with “Summer scholarships in hydrogen storage materials – subtopic of your choice” in the subject line.
Topics
MSc in modelling materials for hydrogen storage made from NZ resources
The use of hydrogen as a potential fuel source relies on safe and effective handling and storage. As hydrogen gas is lightweight and difficult to handle, incorporation of the gas into another material can enable facile transport and storage. Metal hydrides are one such form of hydrogen storage, in which hydrogen gas can be reversibly incorporated into the metal lattice. FeTi is one of the most promising materials for this application, which can be synthesized from ilmenite ore, which is abundant in New Zealand sands. However, the as-synthesised FeTi often contains a number of impurities, the presence of which may influence the hydrogen storage capabilities. This MSc project will use computational techniques based on density functional theory to investigate the effect of impurities on the hydrogenation of FeTi, with impurities specifically chosen to reflect the New Zealand ilmenite.
Requirements: A BSc honours degree or equivalent in chemistry, physics or engineering.
Primary supervisor: Associate Professor Anna Garden (Department of Chemistry)
MSc in designing and characterization of hydrogen storage materials from NZ resources
Green hydrogen will become a pivotal vector to carry and store renewable energy in a future net-zero carbon world. FeTi alloys demonstrate high hydrogen uptake at ambient conditions and are a safe and reliable candidate material for bulk hydrogen storage applications such as back-up power systems or micro grids. The mineral ilmenite contains both Fe and Ti and can be sourced in New Zealand, providing an attractive feedstock for preparing FeTi-based storage materials; however, impurities in the alloy can influence the hydrogen storage capabilities. This MSc project will use experimental techniques to prepare and characterise FeTi alloys to better understand the effect of the impurities present in ilmenite on the hydrogen storage capacity.
Requirements: A BSc Honours degree or equivalent in chemistry, physics or engineering.
Primary supervisor: Professor Nigel Lucas (Department of Chemistry)
MSc in designing resilient renewable hydrogen technologies for remote communities
Many remote communities, island nations and end of distribution line customers rely on diesel generators for their electricity supply. Rapidly falling costs for solar PV and battery storage in combination with recent advances in hydrogen electrolyzers, fuel cells and storage technologies have resulted in economically viable renewable alternatives to diesel generators. However, these systems are often not designed to be resilient to extreme weather events, which is particularly important for remote customers. This MSc project will use novel methods based on extreme value statistics to design renewable technology options for a range of remote customer use cases, focusing on resilience to extreme events.
Requirements: A BSc honours degree or equivalent in Engineering, Physics or Applied Mathematics. Programming experience an advantage.
Primary supervisor: Associate Professor Michael Jack (Department of Physics, Energy Management)
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