New Zealand France Friendship Fund Excellence Scholarship awarded to Dylan Chambers

The 2015 New Zealand France Friendship Fund Excellence Scholarship has been awarded to recent Victoria University graduate Dylan Chambers.

The 25-year old student has been awarded $25,000 to undertake a Master in International Public Management at the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs. [1] 

The postgraduate degree, conducted in both French and English, is an internationally competitive programme taught by a number of leading experts and professionals in the fields of international political economy, policy analysis, management and leadership.

Dylan has a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in International Relations and Modern Languages from Victoria University. 

Professor Stephen Levine of Victoria University's Political Science and International Relations programme said Dylan is one of the top students to go through the Honours programme in the last 15 years.

At the end of his final academic year at Victoria, Dylan was selected as one of four young New Zealanders to intern in the United States Congress.  He also spent four months as an intern with the Embassy of Spain and completed a four-month internship in the Council for International Development, both in Wellington.

Dylan recently completed a six-month internship in the New Zealand Parliament (as a requirement for his Honours year of study).  Earlier this year, he was selected as the most outstanding Parliamentary intern of 2014 and received the Speaker’s Prize from the Speaker of the House, The Rt. Hon. David Carter.

Dylan’s love of French language and culture began with French classes in high school.  Encouraged by his two language-loving sisters, he was exposed to French food, music and language at two French cafés in Wellington, La Cloche and Café Breton, where he worked part-time during his studies.

“To live and study in Paris – the heart of Europe – is really a dream come true for me,” says Dylan. “I can’t wait to be fully immersed in the language, the culture, and the political environment.  Paris is a truly unique place and an ideal location for me to continue my studies.”

Also an accomplished sportsman, Dylan was a swimming instructor and gymnastics coach and was awarded a scholarship by the Gym Sports Association of New Zealand in 2009 to undertake a year-long diploma in leadership training, NGO management and gymnastic instruction in Denmark.

Dylan also completed a five-month University exchange at Uppsala University of Sweden as a recipient of the Dominion Post Global Citizen Exchange Scholarship; and attended the 2014 G20 Youth Forum in Germany and the 2013 Model United Nations in Sweden. 

The New Zealand France Friendship Fund’s Excellence Scholarship was established to support a New Zealand postgraduate student’s study at a PhD or Masters level in France.  It is a reciprocal scholarship, and each year a postgraduate French student is given the opportunity to study in New Zealand.  

This year’s French Scholar, Sandrine Roy, is studying glaciers at the Natural Hazards Research Centre within the University of Canterbury.  Sandrine is a student of the University of Strasbourg and it is hoped that the two Universities can establish a research partnership, with a view to supporting more internships in the future. Sandrine would like to do her PhD in New Zealand.

The 2014 New Zealand winner, Rebecca Grant, is completing her studies at Sciences Po in Paris.  Her supervisor recently noted that Rebecca’s grades have her in the top 15% across all her classes and that she has been a “very mature, accomplished, hardworking and delightful student, a fantastic addition to our program.”

About the New Zealand France Friendship Fund

The New Zealand France Friendship Fund was established in 1991 by an Agreement between the French and New Zealand Governments, with the aim of promoting friendly relations between the people of the two countries.

It does this by providing financial assistance to projects which lead to ongoing links, understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries, especially young people.  Projects that the Fund supports can be cultural, artistic, sporting, historical, educational or entertainment endeavours. The key criterion is that a constructive exchange between France and New Zealand takes place.

The Fund comprises a New Zealand Board with three members and a French Board, also with three members.

About the New Zealand France Friendship Fund Excellence Scholarship

The New Zealand France Friendship Fund awards an academic Excellence Scholarship to one high calibre tertiary student from New Zealand for postgraduate study in France at Masters or PhD level.  Applications are made to the French Embassy in Wellington by 31 December for studies in France during the following academic year.   The Scholarship is worth $25,000.  The Excellence Scholarship is a reciprocal arrangement, and there is also a scholarship for a French student to study in New Zealand.

The Scholarship is administered by Universities New Zealand, in addition to over 40 other undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships each year. 

[1] Dylan will spend the second year of his Masters undertaking thesis-based research at the Free University of Berlin.   At the culmination of the two years, he will receive a Master's degree from both Paris (in International Public Management) and Berlin (Political Science/International Affairs).