Kercher Scholarships

Kercher Scholarship

Applications are now open for the 2022 conference. Please email your application to ANZLHS2021@uts.edu.au by 2 September 2022.

The Kercher Scholarships were established by the Australia and New Zealand Law and History Society in recognition of the substantial contribution to legal history and to the Society made by its founding President, Bruce Kercher.

Scholarships are open to any postgraduate student currently enrolled in an Australian or New Zealand university wishing to attend the annual Australia and New Zealand Law and History Society Conference, and are awarded on the basis of merit through a process of application to the conference organisers.

Each scholarship is valued at AUD$500. This is a contribution towards the cost of an economy class airfare to attend the conference and / or accommodation. Recipients will also have the conference registration fee waived and will be awarded a year’s membership of the Society. It is hoped that applicants for the scholarships will have submitted a paper to present at the conference.

In 2021, the ANZLHS received a generous gift from South Auckland law firm Kayes Fletcher Walker to the Kercher Scholarship fund.  The gift from Kayes Fletcher Walker will enable an additional Kercher Scholarship to be awarded when an applicant meets one of the following criteria, in addition to the general criteria set out in relation to the Kercher scholarship. An additional Kercher scholarship may be awarded to a post-graduate student whose research project:

• addresses Indigenous people and legal history; or
• engages Mātauranga Māori or another Indigenous knowledge system; or
• adopts kaupapa Māori or another Indigenous research methodology.

Eligibility

Scholarships are open to any full-time post-graduate student currently enrolled at an Australian or New Zealand university. If in any year there are insufficient applications by full-time students, part-time students may also be eligible. For this purpose, postgraduate means students enrolled in PhD, any Masters level degree (eg MA, LLM or similar) and Honours where that Honours programme consists of a separate additional course taken after the relevant undergraduate studies or where Honours constitutes a separate degree to the regular LLB degree.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit a letter (no more than 1 A4 page) which:

• Includes a summary statement of the research project being undertaken;
• Provides a short statement of the applicant’s interest in legal history; and
• Indicates their future career aspirations.

Applicants should attach to the letter:

• A current curriculum vitae (no more than 3 A4 pages);
• A short letter of recommendation from an academic member of the Faculty/School who is familiar with the student and their work, preferably the student’s supervisor.

This statement must include information as to any funds to which the applicant has access to at their own institution.