Programme details

Doctor of Professional Practice

The qualaification is ideal for individuals who possess expertise in their domain and aspire to generate new insights within their field.

Course description

The Doctor of Professional Practice integrates work-based knowledge with disciplinary expertise to generate new, applied knowledge relevant to professional contexts. This professional doctorate focuses on producing original insights from practice, combining them with formal disciplinary understanding to benefit the candidate, their organisation, and the broader profession.

This advanced programme enables candidates to create and apply new knowledge in New Zealand workplaces through self-directed research and practice projects, fostering the development of personal and professional leadership. Over a three-year full-time enrolment, you set and achieve your own learning goals, supported by academic mentors through a mix of online and face-to-face guidance.

The programme suits highly motivated, self-directed learners with strong critical and strategic thinking skills, global and organisational perspectives, and experience in leading change or addressing complex professional problems. Candidates are capable of articulating their practice, proposing innovative solutions, and influencing others within their field.

Immigration benefits

This course may qualify for the following visa rights:
In-study work rights
Partner visitor rights
Partner work rights
Post-study work rights

This course qualifies for 6 points if applying for residency under the Skilled Migrant Category.

Career Prospects

Career oppurtunities include working in areas such as:

-Education
-Leadership
-Research

Entry requirements

Academic requirements

Prospective candidates must have:

-a Master’s qualification at the standard of Excellence or Credit, or the equivalent (eg A or B grade, Honours 1 or 2),and evidence to the satisfaction of the Research and Post-Graduate Committee to demonstrate:
-extensive professional experience of an appropriate kind, relevant to the stated field of practice (for example 7-10 years)
-ability and willingness to successfully undertake a self-managed academic process;
-an established professional relationship and/or employment/self-employment with the opportunity to undertake projects, inquiries or other work-based activity;
demonstrated academic writing and researching skills at postgraduate level.
-Additionally, acceptance as a doctoral student will be after developing a research proposal and undertaking an interview with representatives of the Doctor of Professional Practice programme committee.

It will also depend on the availability of academic mentoring in the area of the candidate’s research interests.

International equivalence

To enter Otago Polytechnic’s undergraduate certificates, diplomas and degrees, you need to have achieved a secondary school qualification that is equivalent to New Zealand’s NCEA levels (National Certificate of Educational Achievement).

English Language requirements

If English is not your first language, you must provide:

-New Zealand University Entrance OR
-Overall Academic IELTS 6.5 with no individual band score lower than 6.0 (achieved in one test completed in the last two years), OR
-Acceptable alternative evidence of the required IELTS