Critic and Conscience of Society Award

About the award:

Established in 2017, the Critic and Conscience of Society Award encourages academics to provide expert commentary on important issues affecting the New Zealand community and future generations.

Previous award winners include:

Applications for the 2027 Critic and Conscience Award will open in November 2026. The award is administered by Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara. It is not necessary to be nominated and academics can apply via an online form.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for this Award, you must:

  • Be a full-time or part-time university staff member who has publicly raised or commented on a New Zealand critic and conscience of society issue within the last two calendar years.
  • Have received no support from any person or organisation who or which could derive a direct financial benefit from the issue raised.
  • Be commenting within your area of expertise. 
  • Have been a critic of an issue that affects the community and future generations.

 Value and Number awarded:

One award will be made each year.

The current annual value of the funds available for the scholarship is NZ$25,000.

There will also be financial support available of up to $1,500 for an award recipient to offer a public lecture.

No scholarships will be awarded if the selection panel is of the opinion that there is no candidate who is of sufficient merit.

Opening date

14 November

Closing date:

28 February

How to apply:

Check your eligibility.

Applying for the scholarship is an on-line application process. Please note that the Critic and Conscience of Society Award is managed through Universities New Zealand’s online scholarship management system – Community Force.  You will need to register on this system and then use the search field to locate the relevant page for the Critic and Conscience of Society Award.

A link to the application website is available here.

Decisions made:

by the end of April

 

FAQ's

  • Each year the Award is made to an academic staff member who, in the opinion of a panel of three independent judges, has done more in the past two calendar years (1 Jan to 31 Dec) than any other applicant to provide the public with independent, expert commentary on an issue or issues affecting the New Zealand community or future generations.
  • It is not necessary to be nominated for the Award.
  • Winners of the Award will not be eligible to apply again until after five years have elapsed.
  • Winners of the award will receive a framed certificate.
  • The funds are to be administered by the recipient’s university, but there are no reporting requirements as to how the $25,000 is used and no time frame is set.
  • If the recipient would like to offer a public lecture, a contribution of up to $1,500 of additional funding will be available to cover expenses associated with publicity, venue costs, and refreshments.
  • Currently, an Emeritus Professor is not eligible. This is because the funds are administered by the recipient’s university, which would pose difficulty for a non-staff member.
  • Academics can act as the critic and conscience of society by drawing public attention to one or more issues in their area of expertise. This would have to involve suggesting changes which they consider need to be made.
  • The panel can only consider what has been done over the past two calendar years inclusive, in order to give young academics a reasonable opportunity. However, a summary of public engagement in the past might be taken into account if it is difficult to make a decision.
  • The panel does not need letters in support of any nomination/application for the award. 
  • All material provided as part of a nomination/application will remain private and will not be circulated beyond the panel and the UNZ staff members providing the panel with administrative support.
  • The Award is made singularly and not to a team.
  • The Selection Panel has not yet been determined for 2027.