Entrepreneur's $1.2 million donation sees scholars posted to ivy league universities

Andrew Bagnall wants to give others the same opportunity he had. Photo / Doug Sherring

The latest round of funding from Andrew Bagnall's $1.2 million donation has been awarded to two University of Auckland students.

Bagnall, who spoke to the Herald about the university donation in 2018, said he wanted to give others the same opportunity to study abroad that he had received.

The Andrew Bagnall Doctoral Student International Mobility Scholarship is one of a suite of scholarships funded by Bagnall, who founded Gulliver's Travel Group and is now involved in the health sector through NZX-listed Green Cross Health.

Other scholarships funded by him include two major biennual scholarships worth $100,000 each, one for a postgraduate student to study for an MBA at a top-ranked overseas university and the other a fellowship at McLaren Applied Technologies in Britain.

Auckland University PhD student Kate MacKrill, who studies health psychology, is the latest recipient of the mobility scholarship, receiving $15,000, which has covered her expenses to attend a week-long visit to Stanford University in the United States.

MacKrill, who is researching the nocebo response in patients, prior to a medicine brand change, is currently at Stanford for a "research collaboration meeting" to present her work and discuss future research projects.

She will also travel to New Orleans to a psychology conference with her professor.

In August, MacKrill will travel to London for a research meeting with King's College, and then on to Scotland for an industry conference.

MacKrill said the funding she had received would cover all of her travel opportunities this year. "Being in the last year, as a PhD student, it's quite an opportunity - it's a chance to share my research to various organisations and universities.

"It's a great chance to share the work that I've been doing in New Zealand, getting a fresh perspective from different institutions, and to engage in discussions about where to from here and what future works I could do."

Emily Lam Po Tang, a PhD researcher at the University of Auckland's Bioengineering Institute, is off to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, where she will continue her research into heart muscle cells and the use of hydrogels.

At MIT, she plans to work with renowned New Zealander Ian Hunter, who is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a pioneer of innovations such as needle-free injection and micro-instrumentation.

As well as the Bagnall Scholarship, Emily received the Henry Kelsey Scholarship, which awards her $10,000 per year for up to three years.

The recipient of the first Bagnall International MBA Scholarship, Emily Bolton, has just completed her first semester at the London Business School.