Funding & Scholarships

The Oxford-Exeter College Coltart and Bagby Scholarship in Anthropology (OECB)

The College seeks to elect an OECB Scholar from among students who have an offer of admission to study for the DPhil in Anthropology degree within the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography (SAME) at the University of Oxford.

This scholarship was created through partnership of Exeter College’s Alan Coltart scholarship, and the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography’s Bagby Trust (established for the “study of urban literate societies”). Where a suitable candidate is identified, the OECB scholarship will fund course fees (at the Home/ROI rate) and a grant to cover living expenses for the duration of the scholar’s fee liability (three years full time).

The successful candidate will:

• be an applicant to the University of Oxford for admission to the DPhil in Anthropology degree within the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography;
• become a member of Exeter College and commit to remaining at Exeter College for the duration of their degree.

How to apply

Note: you cannot select Exeter College when applying for the DPhil in Anthropology at Oxford. (Except for the OECB scholar, the College does not normally accept students to read for higher degrees in Anthropology.)  You should, when applying to Oxford, choose any available College, or choose to make an open application, as you wish. Exeter College will work in conjunction the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography to identify all eligible candidates regardless of the College to which they have been assigned.

If we offer you this Scholarship we will also offer you a place at Exeter College, which will take the place of any earlier college offer you may have.  There is no separate application process for this Scholarship; you simply need to apply for your graduate course by the relevant deadline.

The ESRC is the UK’s largest organisation for funding research on social and economic issues. The University, in collaboration with Brunel University and the Open University, hosts the Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) - one of fourteen Doctoral Training Partnerships accredited by the ESRC as part of a Doctoral Training Network. 

In order to be considered for a Grand Union DTP ESRC studentship, you must select ‘ESRC Grand Union DTP’ in the University of Oxford scholarships section of the University's graduate application form.  You must also complete a Grand Union DTP Application Form and upload it, together with your graduate application form, by the relevant funding deadline for your course. 

Information about ESRC studentships at Oxford and the DTP application form can be found on the Grand Union DTP website. Please ensure you have read all of the guidance available on the website before completing the DTP application form. Questions can be directed to the Grand Union DTP Office.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) provides public funding in support of research into the arts and humanities. This includes some subjects formally based in the Social Sciences Division at Oxford, including Law, Archaeology, Anthropology and Politics. Oxford participates in the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP), providing a number of scholarships each year for doctoral students. Information about applying for AHRC scholarships at Oxford can be found on the OOC DTP website.

Clarendon is Oxford’s flagship graduate scholarship scheme, open to all applicants for DPhil and Master’s courses. Clarendon scholarships are competitive, prestigious and highly sought-after. Like all fully funded Oxford scholarships, Clarendon covers course fees, and provides a grant for living expenses. If you apply by the funding deadline for a full or part-time Master's or DPhil course at Oxford, you will automatically be considered for a Clarendon Scholarship. Funding deadlines can be found on individual course pages on the Graduate Admissions website. 

Colleges may offer scholarships to candidates in anthropology. Careful searches of the websites of those colleges that admit for anthropology are recommended.

Kyung Hee Scholarship in Medical Anthropology

The Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (ISCA), located within the School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography (SAME), University of Oxford, offers one scholarship for a student to study for the two-year MPhil degree in Medical Anthropology at the University. On successful completion of the MPhil degree, the applicant may be granted further funding to continue to the DPhil programme. The maximum duration of the scholarship shall be five years, i.e. two years of funding for the MPhil and three years of funding for the DPhil (the final year of which, being beyond fee liability, would be living stipend-only).

Applicants should apply for a university place on the MPhil degree in Medical Anthropology through the standard admissions procedures, the forms for which can be found here. 

The scholarship is open to candidates wishing to undertake research on any theme of medical anthropology that is taught at the Institute but it is restricted to those who have already undertaken study at, and are graduates of, the Cheong Kung Center for History and Culture of Korean Medicine at the Korean Medicine College of Kyung Hee University, South Korea.

In their personal statement applicants should indicate clearly that they are applying for this studentship by heading the statement ‘Kyung Hee Studentship in Medical Anthropology’. Decisions regarding the award of the scholarship will be made by a specially convened committee of the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology.

Any questions concerning this scholarship may be addressed to Professor Elisabeth Hsu

In addition to the awards detailed above, the following awards are advertised here when available:

The Boise Trust Scholarship – Not running in 2022

The Wellcome Doctoral Awards Scheme – Not running in 2022

Kyung Hee Scholarship in Medical Anthropology

The Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (ISCA), located within the School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography (SAME), University of Oxford, offers one scholarship for a student to study for the two-year MPhil degree in Medical Anthropology at the University. On successful completion of the MPhil degree, the applicant may be granted further funding to continue to the DPhil programme. The maximum duration of the scholarship shall be five years, i.e. two years of funding for the MPhil and three years of funding for the DPhil (the final year of which, being beyond fee liability, would be living stipend-only).

Applicants should apply for a university place on the MPhil degree in Medical Anthropology through the standard admissions procedures, the forms for which can be found here. 

The scholarship is open to candidates wishing to undertake research on any theme of medical anthropology that is taught at the Institute but it is restricted to those who have already undertaken study at, and are graduates of, the Cheong Kung Center for History and Culture of Korean Medicine at the Korean Medicine College of Kyung Hee University, South Korea.

In their personal statement applicants should indicate clearly that they are applying for this studentship by heading the statement ‘Kyung Hee Studentship in Medical Anthropology’. Decisions regarding the award of the scholarship will be made by a specially convened committee of the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology.

Any questions concerning this scholarship may be addressed to Professor Elisabeth Hsu

Fieldwork skills awards

The School offers small grants to contribute to the costs of certain skills training for SAME-registered research students preparing to do major fieldwork (i.e. PRS/DPhil, MLitt students and Year 2 MPhil students, but not undergraduates, MSc students or Year 1 MPhil students). Examples of eligible training include language-training at the University Language Centre (at 12 Woodstock Road) or (with good reason) elsewhere, and specialized training in the use of specific equipment.

 Fieldwork skills awards are subject to the following conditions: 

·         The training is essential for the degree and research they are pursuing.

·         The costs involved are reasonable, up to a maximum of £750 per application.

·         Only one application per student is permitted in any academic year (Aug-Jul).

Application should be by letter, endorsed by the student’s supervisor and setting out the costs involved, to the Director of Graduate Studies, who will verify academic need. The financial case will then be assessed by the Head of Administration before final approval is given or withheld.

The scheme is subject to a budget maximum in any given year. It is concessionary, not statutory, and therefore may be withdrawn at any time at the School’s sole discretion. Students have no automatic entitlement to these funds and have to apply for them in each case in the manner outlined above.

Conference presentation awards

Limited funds are available to support SAME-registered PRS/DPhil research students wishing to accept an invitation to present a poster or paper at a conference (i.e. not just wishing to attend a conference). Conference presentation awards are subject to the following conditions:

·         The applicant will be giving a paper at the conference.

·         A copy of the invitation to present is supplied.

Proof is presented that other funding options (e.g. college or conference funds) have been explored and are unavailable or insufficient.

·         The costs involved are reasonable, up to a maximum of £250 per application.

·        Only one application per student is permitted in any academic year (Aug-Jul).

Application should be by letter, endorsed by the student’s supervisor and setting out the costs involved, to the Director of Graduate Studies, who will verify academic need. The financial case will then be assessed by the Head of Administration before final approval is given or withheld.

The scheme is subject to a budget maximum in any given year. It is concessionary, not statutory, and therefore may be withdrawn at any time at the School’s sole discretion. Students have no automatic entitlement to these funds and have to apply for them in each case in the manner outlined above.

Peter Lienhardt Memorial Fund and Philip Bagby Fund

Small Research Travel Grants

Applications are invited for research-related travel expenses up to a limit of £1000 in the field of anthropology, broadly conceived. The Awards Committee reserves the right to offer awards for less than the sum requested in order that as many applicants as possible may benefit.

Applications should consist of:

1. a cover letter summarising the research for which the grant is required (not more than one page);
2. an itemised budget with full details of the expenditure to be covered by the grant;
3. a letter of support from the current academic supervisor.

Applications should be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies, dgs@anthro.ox.ac.uk. The deadline for the receipt of applications has now closed. This is a ‘gathered field’ competition and awards will not be made before that date.

Godfrey Lienhardt Memorial Fund - Travel/Small Research Grants in conjunction with Wolfson College: For research in social anthropology in Sub-Saharan Africa (excl. RSA)

Applications are invited for small grants (up to £1000 each) to support research-related travel or small research projects in the field of social anthropology in Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the Republic of South Africa. The Awards Committee, who administers these awards on behalf of Wolfson College, reserves the right to offer awards for less than the sum requested in order that as many applicants as possible may benefit.

Applicants should currently be pursuing or intending to pursue research in social or cultural anthropology in the University of Oxford (PRS/DPhil, MLitt and, where appropriate, MSc or MPhil), though not necessarily in the School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography.

Applications should consist of:

1. a cover letter summarising the research for which the grant is required (not more than one page);
2. an itemised budget with full details of the expenditure to be covered by the grant;
3. a letter of support from the current academic supervisor.

Applications should be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies, dgs@anthro.ox.ac.uk. The deadline for the receipt of applications is has now closed This is a ‘gathered field’ competition and awards will not be made before that date.

1. What departmental funding is available for doctoral students?  

The School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography has its own scholarships, usually up to two in number (value usually around £30,000 per annum). These are sometimes paired with additional named scholarships, including the Philip Bagby Studentship for 'the study of the development of urban literate culture’ and the Rausing Scholarship (Linacre College) and, more occasionally, the Alan Coltart Scholarship (Exeter College) and the Alun Hughes Graduate Scholarship (Jesus College). None of these awards should be taken as providing full funding, and they are limited to three years of funding (reapplication may be necessary in year three for the Bagby and Rausing awards). See also the section above “Support for Prospective DPhils”.

2. What funding is available for master’s students? 

The only funding available for master’s students within the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography is through the Clarendon scheme. For the Clarendon scheme suitable applicants are nominated by departments, they do not have to apply directly (see Clarendon Scholarships above)

3. What travel grants are available? 

The Peter Lienhardt and Philip Bagby funds award grants for travel for research purposes associated with social anthropology (in the latter case, for ‘the study of the development of urban literate culture’). The Godfrey Lienhardt Memorial Fund awards grants for travel for research purposes associated with the social anthropology of Sub-Saharan Africa excluding the Republic of South Africa. These awards are open to all students. Their value is unlikely to exceed £1000 per award. Direct applications are required, and decisions are usually released in May.

4. Can I apply for the above funding if I am already on a degree programme, i.e. as a continuer? 

The major grants are restricted to students starting a doctorate, with the exception that eligible on-course DPhil students may submit an application for consideration for AHRC nomination by the deadline. For consideration for the following academic year, and existing holders of the Philip Bagby and Rausing awards may reapply for up to three years once their initial funding has come to an end. Only the travel funds are open to all students.