Call for PhD students to win $5k AMP IGNITE competition

Call for PhD students to win $5k AMP IGNITE competition

Leading life insurer and retirement savings provider, AMP is again calling for PhD students across the country who have an innovative quest to change the world with their research to enter its 2015 AMP IGNITE competition be in to win up to $5,000 to help further their studies.

Entries to AMP IGNITE open on 13 April and close on 8 May. Finalists in the competition will have just 150 seconds (2.5 minutes) to pitch their research to a panel of judges in an entertaining performance evening on 8 June competing against their peers. Finalists receive mentoring and coaching which will help them pitch their idea through storytelling, performance art, dance, comedy, music or even magic.

In 2014, Auckland University student, Emily Hargrave-Thomas won the inaugural AMP IGNITE competition, winning $5,000 to help further her research project into osteoarthritis disease development so it can be detected before patients visit their doctor with joint pain. Additionally, Massey University student Kayleigh Evans, won $1,000 in the “people’s prize” chosen by the audience for her research around controlling the reproduction of cancer cells.

Shaun Philp, General Manager Human Resources, at AMP says: “If you talk to any PhD student, the biggest hurdles they face during their research projects are time and money. AMP IGNITE aims to help PhD students financially with the chance of winning $5,000 which means they can put their energy into achieving their dreams.

“We ask them to ‘translate’ their complex research into everyday language and pitch their project in an entertaining way to our panel of local and international judges. Often having the skills to think creatively and deliver an engaging proposal is the key to achieving additional funding further down the track, so we see this experience as an opportunity that can set them up in the years to come,” concludes Philp.

Judges for AMP IGNITE 2015 include:

· Heather McGowan: Cofounder of Confidant, a consulting firm advising higher education leadership in the United States
· John Matonis: Founder and Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation and an e-Money researcher and crypto economist focused on expanding the circulation of non-political digital currencies
· Annalie Killian: Director of Innovation and Social Business at AMP Australia and the Founder and Curator of Amplify and the Bright Sparks event in Australia

· Therese Singleton: General Manager, Insurance and Investments, AMP New Zealand. Therese is responsible for the Strategic Partnership, Wealth Management, Group Wealth Protection and Individual Wealth Protection Product teams

· Shaun Philp: General Manager, Human Resources, AMP New Zealand. Shaun leads the human resources team, and his career with AMP includes three years based in our Sydney office as Head of Leadership, Learning and Development.

ENDS

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