Woolf Fisher Scholarships 2027 recipients announced

Three New Zealand students have been awarded prestigious Woolf Fisher Scholarships to undertake doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge starting in October next year.

Phyliss Lan

Phyliss is hoping to take her PhD with the Information Engineering Division at Cambridge, specialising in control theory and robotics.

“Traditional approaches to control theory fail when robots must operate in unstructured environments, such as uneven terrain or with unknown materials. Tackling this is one of the greatest challenges in robotics.”

Phyliss aims to contribute to theoretical advances that would allow robots to be used reliably in areas such as agriculture, environmental monitoring, sustainable forestry, and disaster responses, all crucial for New Zealand.

While studying at the University of Auckland for her Bachelor of Engineering Honours in Mechatronics Phyliss was awarded the prestigious Kupe Leadership Scholarship. She also supported Robogals, a student-based group encouraging young women in STEM, as well as co-leading the campus club, Engineering for Sustainable Development.

Ultimately, Phyliss would like to take up an academic post in New Zealand pursuing research with practical impact. Referring to companies like Open Star and Rocket Lab as examples, she hopes to be a part of ensuring that “we remain inventors of robotic technology, not just adopters of it.”

Ethan McCormick

Changes in conservation and environmental governance in New Zealand is the area Ethan will research for his PhD.

“For much of its history, conservation in New Zealand has centred on protecting remnant species and habitats. Now, conservation appears to be undergoing a profound shift, embracing holistic visions oriented towards ecosystem processes rather than individual species or sites, and witnessing widespread local participation and novel democratic experiments.”

Ethan has a Master of Arts in Politics and international Relations from the University of Auckland, obtaining during his studies the university’s prestigious Kupe Leadership Scholarship.  His interest in environmental governance arises in part from his extensive involvement in community-based and initiated conservation work.

He sees his PhD research as part of a lifelong commitment to New Zealand’s communities and the natural environment, and hopes to return home after graduating to contribute to the work of transforming how decisions, implementation, and action are undertaken in response to the seemingly intractable problems facing us.

“In a world confronting enormous planetary shifts, experiments in new ways of living carry particular significance.” 

Lucy Watt

Lucy will take her PhD with the Control Engineering Research Group at Cambridge exploring how grid-forming inverters can enable stable renewable electricity systems.  Unlike conventional generators, inverter-based resources, such as solar, wind and batteries, reduce grid stability and increase the risk of blackouts. Grid-forming inverters promise a solution but there are significant control challenges to overcome.

“My research would address those challenges ultimately enabling the widespread deployment of grid-forming inverters in future power systems.”

At the University of Canterbury while studying for her Bachelor of Engineering Honours, as well as winning several academic awards and prizes, Lucy was President of the student branch of the Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers connecting students with one another and with industry and was a mentor and tutor amongst her fellow students.

Lucy hopes her work at Cambridge will have application back home.

“Specifically, I want to use my research to help modernise New Zealand’s Electricity Code to suit the future energy landscape. Existing regulations are largely designed around traditional synchronous generation and do not adequately address inverter-based resources.”

 

From Left: Lucy Watt, Ethan McCormick, Phyliss Lan

The Woolf Fisher Trust

Chair of the Woolf Fisher Trust and the scholarship selection committee, Mark Robinson said, “Every year the trustees are profoundly impressed by the calibre of applicants for the Woolf Fisher Scholarship, and this year was no exception. All shortlisted applicants were top performing students academically and remarkable in their own way but our successful candidates stood out for their passion and work at the forefront of new technologies and approaches which we believe will bring important long-term benefits for New Zealand.”

Sir Woolf Fisher (1912–75) was co-founder of Fisher and Paykel and set up the trust in 1960 for the advancement of scientific and general education in New Zealand.

The Woolf Fisher Doctoral Scholarship to Cambridge has been available since 2004 with awards made every year. The scholarship provides for all university fees, living costs, and annual travel to and from New Zealand for up to four years of study.

The opening date for the next round of applications is 1 April 2027, and the closing date is 1 August 2027. For more information, visit Woolf Fisher Scholarship | Universities New Zealand - Te Pōkai Tara