Doctoral Graduate Profile

The University has ambitious aspirations for our students. These opportunities are embedded within programmes and students’ wider experiences at university.

What is a Graduate Profile?

A refreshed Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland Graduate Profile launched in 2024. The distinctive, bold vision for the University expressed in the University's strategy Taumata Teitei, has driven the need for a refresh of our Graduate Profile to ensure it best captures our aspirations for our students. Learn more.

The graduate profile reflects a set of attributes that we consider to be attainable by graduates of a research-led comprehensive university. They make clear to students and staff, to potential students, to employers, to the community and to other academic institutions, the qualities that Waipapa Taumata Rau | the University of Auckland seeks to impart to, or foster in, its graduates.

Aspirations for University of Auckland Doctoral Graduates

The University has ambitious aspirations for our students. These are embodied by our Māori name, Waipapa Taumata Rau. Gifted to the University by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, te ahi kā of Tāmaki Makaurau, this name signals a call to excellence in scholarship and the pursuit of knowledge, sustainability, relevance, fairness and a positive impact in all we do.

While at university all students will have the opportunity to thrive as Pūmātauranga | Scholars, Aronga Raraupori | Global Citizens, Kiriauaha | Innovators and Kaiarataki | Leaders. These opportunities are embedded within programmes and students’ wider experiences at university.

Pūmātauranga | Scholars – Graduates are knowledgeable and curious, excited by ideas and conscientious in their efforts to understand the complexities of their communities and the world.

Aronga Raraupori | Global Citizens – Graduates are interculturally aware and connected to the peoples of New Zealand, Te Moananuiā-Kiwa (The Pacific) and our international communities. Graduates seek to make the world a fair and better place.

Kiriauaha | Innovators – Graduates are creative and inventive, building sustainably on the past to respond to current and future challenges.

Kaiarataki | Leaders – Graduates are influential, inspiring and impactful. They are inclusive, empowering and service-minded.

Doctoral Graduates Capabilities - Themes

The following themes articulate Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland doctoral graduates’ educational journey. This journey includes the research they engage with directly, as well as broader co-curricular opportunities available both within, and complementary to, their core research programmes.

The themes reflect the ties between this place of learning, its people and contexts, the central concern for our shared academic ambition and achievement, and graduates’ ongoing connections to others within and beyond the University. Taken holistically, they cluster capabilities which the University seeks to foster in all graduates and so prepare students for their future lives and careers.

Themes Capabilities

Waipapa Herenga Waka: The Mooring Post

Connecting to place for thriving and equitable communities

People and Place 

  • Graduates connect to knowledge of place. They are conversant with mātauranga Māori, kaupapa Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and their context in Te Moananui-ā-Kiwa and the world.
  • Graduates appreciate the importance of belonging and diversity and the need for just and equitable societies.

Waipapa ki Uta: The Landing Place

Connecting to place for sustainable and enduring partnerships 

Sustainability 

  • Graduates are future focused leaders, recognising their responsibilities to engage in dialogue and influence social, economic, and environmental factors that impact sustainability.
  • Graduates acknowledge kaitiakitanga and appreciate care for the natural environment.

Waipapa Ngā Maunga Whakahī: Land of Proud Mountains

Knowledge engagement for excellent practice

Robust inquiry for innovative responses 

 

Knowledge and Practice

  • Graduates demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills in research, theory, and practice in their fields to contribute to the creation of new knowledge.
  • Graduates possess a high level of understanding and appreciation of current issues and debates in their field of study.
  • Graduates understand the boundaries of their primary discipline's knowledge base and know when to access inter-disciplinary knowledge to enable a transdisciplinary solution.

Critical Thinking

  • Graduates have an advanced capacity for critical, conceptual, and reflective thinking. They contextualise, critically evaluate, and use complex information effectively.
  • Graduates have an advanced capacity for critical appraisal of relevant scholarly literature, and are willing to question ideas, assumptions, evidence, and information.
  • Graduates view issues from multiple perspectives, engaging appropriately with knowledge systems. They have strong logic and reasoning in arguments, evaluate the reliability of evidence, and include ethical considerations.

Solution-Seeking

  • Graduates have an advanced capacity for creativity and originality and as life-long learners, display intellectual openness and curiosity.
  • Graduates approach problem solving in a flexible manner, and have the awareness and skills required to adapt innovatively to changing environments.
  • Graduates evaluate and utilise contemporary digital tools and technologies to plan, manage and deliver research projects effectively.
  • Graduates seek opportunities to create transformational change through knowledge exchange, sharing research outputs, methods, and expertise with relevant stakeholders in Aotearoa and around the world.

Waipapa Tātai Hono: Ancestral Ties

Communicating and engaging in the service of relationships 

Communication

  • Graduates are sensitive to the appropriate application of tikanga Māori when articulating and disseminating their area of expertise.
  • Graduates apply advanced skills in the presentation and dissemination of their research to engage openly with a range of local and global audiences, utilising a range of appropriate media and modes of communication.

Collaboration

  • Graduates demonstrate whanaungatanga, being able to establish, build and maintain relationships, and collaborate meaningfully and respectfully with colleagues, partners, stakeholders, and communities in research and professional practice.
  • Graduates demonstrate respect for the values of individuals and cultural groups and show an appreciation of human and cultural diversity and interdisciplinary perspectives in research and professional practice.

Waipapa Tāngata Rau: The Place of Great People

Flourishing relationships through principled action

Ethics and Professionalism 

  • Graduates appreciate and demonstrate the importance of acts of manaakitanga and reciprocity in the production of research.
  • Graduates demonstrate the highest standards of personal, professional, and intellectual integrity. They are committed to conducting research responsibly and ethically.

Doctoral Development Opportunities

There are many opportunities for doctoral candidates to develop the capabilities outlined in the Graduate Profile, as well as more specific sets of skills as are articulated in the Doctoral Development Framework, through a wide range of training and development opportunities.

Doctoral Development Framework

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