Sir Paul Callaghan

Sir Paul Callaghan’s vision of New Zealand as ‘a place where talent wants to live’ will be developed by two young scholars. To mark the anniversary of Sir Paul’s death on 24 March 2020, the we have announced today that Charlotte Greenfield and Darren Zhang are the joint winners of the Sir Paul Callaghan Science Meets Humanities Scholarship. The scholarship has developed from discussions surrounding the late Sir Paul’s vision of making New Zealand ‘a place where talent wants to live.’

Darren Zhang: Scholarship Recipient

“A dynamic, creative and thriving Aotearoa New Zealand is one where vision and foresight play a leading role in nurturing and supporting future generations of locally grown or incoming talent from overseas.”
– Darren Zhang

 

Charlotte Greenfield: Scholarship Recipient

“We know our country can produce talent. What we need to do now is explore what to do with it and how to ensure we attract and retain that talent in order to create an economic and social landscape that provides all New Zealanders with the opportunity to take full advantage of their potential.”
– Charlotte Greenfield

Charlotte was a participant in our EmpowerNZ workshop, held in August 2020. She holds an LLB (Hons) and a BA majoring in English, and is moving to New York later this year to study investigative journalism at Columbia University. Darren was a participant of our LongTermNZ workshop. Darren is currently studying toward a BA in politics and philosophy at the University of Auckland. He is a Youth Advisor at the Ministry of Youth Development and has been involved in the NZ Red Cross Refugee Services and UNICEF New Zealand.

The Scholarship will enable the scholars to travel around New Zealand exploring practical ways in which Sir Paul’s vision could be implemented. They will also prepare a working paper based on their interviews with enterprising New Zealanders. The Institute hopes their work will stimulate discussion around Sir Paul’s vision and give it momentum. The scholarship is supported by Trade Me founder Sam Morgan, who will sponsor the students, and John Trail, a friend of Sir Paul’s and a colleague at Magritek, who will guide their research and the development of their findings.

Read our Think Piece 17: A place where talent wants to live to learn more about Sir Paul Callaghan’s vision, how this has sparked the Institute’s work over the past two years, and how it is inspiring our forthcoming projects.