WRONZ has established a Professional Development Fund to assist members to provide education opportunities for staff involved in the NZ wool industry.
WRONZ Research directors utilise income derived from our capital funds to fulfil the primary objectives of the organisation – to promote and encourage scientific and industrial research aligned to present and future industry priorities.
1. Securing wool’s position as a sustainable and natural fibre in order to extract value through being an environmentally sustainable, natural fibre-based industry, the wool industry needs to demonstrate market leadership through the environmental quality and sustainability of its products, with low-environmental impacts across the entire production process.
2. Responsiveness to market demands means removing market and technological barriers to the use of wool products. This will include leveraging variations between wool types to provide competitive advantage, and unique selling points for diverse wool products, and the enhancement of fibre, fabric, and product performance.
3. To maximise value for a significant fraction of the New Zealand wool clip, new knowledge and technologies are required to generate and capture higher value in traditional carpet and apparel areas, and in particular to develop novel added-value wool products outside the traditional.
Certificate-level wool-related courses
We supported the re-establishment of certificate-level wool-related courses at the Southern Institute of Technology. We now fund scholarships for the course, which are administered by the New Zealand Wool Classers Association.
Education and professional development
We invest in education and professional development for the benefit of the wool industry. The responsibility to fund academic education is met through the inclusion of postgraduate degree work or research fellowships embedded within New Uses Programme research. These opportunities can be explored with the manager of Wool Industry Research Limited (WIRL).
We support individuals and/or companies to undertake professional development related to their roles within the industry. We will consider supporting activities including but not limited to:
• Professional or technical development of existing staff in the areas of technical training, marketing, design, or management utilising external expertise.
• Support of an internship/ cadetship within a wool-focused operation.
• Support to equip existing staff to obtain a broader perspective of the wider industry through visits or secondments to industry enterprises.
• Gaining new knowledge through participation in non-degree \programmes or short courses at tertiary institutions or industry training organisations.
• Travel and related expenses to attend or present at conferences or educational courses.
• Building industry leadership capability.
Who We Fund & Why
Applications are considered from those that are directly or indirectly involved in the New Zealand wool industry.
See below for information on how to apply.
To discuss your eligibility and applications, please contact:
Research and Scholarships Manager
Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand Inc and New Zealand
Wool Industry Charitable Trust
Scholarship Programme
PO Box 13311
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand
T: +64 21 24 55 550
E: scholarships@woolresearch.com
