PReSS accounts

All University of Auckland doctoral students receive an annual stipend which is paid into a PReSS account. Funding is credited on an annual basis for up to four years full-time (or pro-rata for part-time). The stipend is intended to help cover direct research costs.

Find out more about PReSS accounts

Please see below the steps you should take for using your PReSS Funds.

Before using your PReSS funds, you must first seek approval from the appropriate approver. Please review the PReSS Account Policy and Procedures to determine if PReSS will cover your requested item, and who should be the approver. Note the $1000 limit on proof reading spending. You only need either a Wahapū approval or an email approval from the supervisor. 

Please note that where PReSS funding is expended towards operational research costs covered by the policy, only supervisor approval is needed.

When Wahapū approval is needed, for Doctoral candidates whose candidature is managed in Wahapū, students should submit their PReSS fund expenditure request as follows:

1. You apply for approval for the expense via Wahapū home > Thesis page > PReSS. You can attach your supervisor's memo if you have it already, or your
   supervisor can provide a statement as part of their approval. 
2. When approved by the appropriate person/Office (supervisor or SGS), then you can screenshot the page request when the ‘approved’ comment is visible, and use it as part of the payment request.

For Doctoral candidates whose candidature is not managed in Wahapū (i.e. Doctor of Education EdD students), requests must be submitted via email to the approver specified in the relevant clause(s) of the PReSS Account Policy and Procedures. In such cases:

• Where Dean of Graduate Studies approval is required, the supervisor should forward the request and their support to the School of Graduate Studies.
• Where Academic Head or Associate Dean (Postgraduate Research) approval is required, the supervisor should forward the request and their support to the relevant authority.

Note: Approval in Wahapū is not the same as an actioned claim for funds. Once your request is approved, you must next submit a request to use the funds, with your approval as one piece of the request.

You can only claim expenses if the purchase was approved by your supervisor or other approver in line with relevant University policies and guidelines. Please contact your supervisor if you have any questions. You MUST include the following with your claim:

a. Evidence of current press account balance (contact your group services administrator if needed. Doctoral candidates on the current PhD Statute can view their PReSS account balances and transactions through Wahapū. Candidates on the 2016 Statute, not yet on Wahapū, or enrolled in a Named Doctorate (e.g., EdD) must contact the Group Services team within their Schools to find out their PReSS account balances.

b. Evidence of supervisor approval

c. Graduate office approval – only where necessary (i.e. for editing costs).

For EDSW doctoral students, your PReSS account code is 9444 + your user name/UPI.

Doctoral students can claim their PReSS funds in one of two ways:

a.      Pay directly and request reimbursement of costs through Concur.

b.      Make a purchase request charged to their PReSS account via the Shared Transaction Centre (STC).

If a student has used their own funds on behalf of the University for a business purpose, they may claim reimbursement for the expenses incurred (subject to PReSS Account Policy and Procedures). All claims for reimbursement for New Zealand goods and services must be accompanied by the official GST receipt Administration of payments or reimbursement for PReSS account spending is managed locally by teams located in the Faculty.

For a first claim, doctoral students must first complete the following steps to access the University’s expense reimbursement system - Concur www.concursolutions.auckland.ac.nz

a)      Log into Student Services Online

b)      Go to the Personal Bank Account section

c)      Enter the NZ bank account into which the payment will be deposited.

NB: Access is automatically granted to Concur within two (2) business days, subject to bank account details entered by 6pm.

When the student has access to Concur, then the student can submit a reimbursement request. More information is here: 

Claiming from your PReSS account

Concur: Quick Guide for Student Reimbursement

A doctoral candidate can request direct payment from the PReSS account – such as for travel or larger expenses such as proofreading costs. Note the $1000 limit on proofreading. See ‘Approval for travel expenses’ above.

The Shared Transaction Centre (STC) coordinates purchase requests and payments for the University. Doctoral students can make Standard Purchase Requests from STC via the Standard Purchase Order Request. More information is here: How to submit a Standard Purchase Request.

Standard requests are processed by the STC within three working days (on
receipt of the mandatory information required).

The STC team are available via:

• Submitting a service request
• Phone: (09) 923-6410 or extn 86410