Graduate Funding

The application form, used to apply for admissions to any graduate philosophy programme, will also be used for applications for funding, such as for the Clarendon fund, so you will not need to apply separately for these.  Please note that you must tick the relevant scholarship boxes on the application form if you wish to be considered for an Ertegun scholarship (see Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Postgraduate Scholarships in the Humanities for details), AHRC scholarships or other University of Oxford scholarships (e.g. Weidenfeld-Hoffman Scholarships or Hill Foundation Scholarships); you will not be considered for these scholarships if you have not done so. Do ensure that you are indeed eligible for any particular source of funding before ticking the box.

Across the University, there are over a thousand scholarships available, as indicated on the Oxford Graduate Scholarships website. Full information on University scholarships, including the dates by which funding decisions will be made, is available on the Scholarships A-Z Listing website. Applicants may also be eligible for other scholarships not specifically mentioned on this website; to check which advertised University and college funding opportunities you are eligible for, do consult the online Graduate Funding Search Tool.  Scholarships are very competitive, and success cannot be guaranteed - it is therefore advisable to explore all possible funding sources. You can find some tips on the Funding Top Tips website.

Please see below for information on the scholarships that are currently known to the Faculty and which may be available in the next admissions cycle. It is possible that further scholarships may become available at a later point.

University and Faculty of Philosophy Scholarships

The AHRC is the UK’s largest organisation for funding research on social and economic issues. The University, in collaboration with Cambridge University and the Open University, hosts the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership (OOC DTP).

In order to be considered for an OOC DTP studentship, you must select ‘AHRC: OOC DTP’ in the University of Oxford scholarships section of the University’s graduate application form. You must also complete an OOC DTP Application Form (which can be downloaded from this page) and upload it, together with your graduate application form, by the January deadline. Please ensure you have read all of the application guidance available on the website before completing the DTP Application Form.

 

The Black Academic Futures Scholarships offer UK Black and Mixed-Black students financial support to pursue graduate study at Oxford. These scholarships are available for applicants who are ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, who are of Black or Mixed Black ethnicity and who hold an offer for either a taught or research postgraduate degree, starting in the 2024-25 academic year. This includes all full-time and part-time DPhil and master’s courses. For more information, visit the Black Academic Futures website or contact academic.futures@admin.ox.ac.uk

Clarendon not only offers over 200 new, fully-funded scholarships each year to assist outstanding graduate scholars, but also the opportunity to join one of the most active, internationally diverse, and multidisciplinary communities at Oxford. For more information, please visit the Clarendon Scholarships webpage. 

Oxford is immensely proud to be able to offer the Ertegun Scholarships in the Humanities. The University has one goal in mind when selecting Ertegun Scholars: to choose the very best students who will realise Mica Ertegun’s Mission and one day become leaders in their chosen fields.

An Ertegun Scholarship covers the course fees, and provides a grant for living costs, for the period of fee liability. Ertegun scholars also enjoy dedicated use of Ertegun House, which provides space for each Scholar for writing and research, as well as opportunities to participate in social occasions, lively lectures, performances and other activities developed expressly for the Scholars. Awards are made for the full duration of a student's fee liability for the agreed course.

Candidates apply for the scholarship by selecting “Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Graduate Scholarships in the Humanities” in the Funding Section of the University's Graduate Application Form. Applicants must also complete a supporting statement and upload it as a pdf document together with the Graduate Application Form. The statement requires you to answer three questions (in no more than 500 words each) that relate to the aims and mission of the Ertegun Scholarship programme. The Selection Committee will consider your supporting statement in conjunction with your course application. 

All candidates offered a place on any of our graduate philosophy programmes are automatically considered for nomination for an Ertegun Scholarship, provided they have checked the relevant box on the application form and uploaded an Ertegun application form to their course application.

For more information please visit the Ertegun Scholarship Programme website. 

The Philosophy Faculty has a limited level of departmental funding available for students who will start a graduate course in the Faculty in October 2024.

Scholarships will normally cover university fees, irrespective of fee status, and may also come with a grant for living expenses, for the duration of fee liability. Awards may be made in conjunction with other university or college scholarships.

There is no separate application process for these scholarships. The Faculty of Philosophy will automatically consider all eligible offer holders for this funding. Scholarship holders will be selected for their outstanding academic merit and potential.

The Institute for Ethics in AI is offering up to two fully-funded scholarships to applicants accepted to start a DPhil in any subject that take a Humanities-based approach to research topics relevant to the Institute in the academic year 2024-25.

A large range of topics fall within the area of interest for the Institute for Ethics in AI. These include, but are not limited to, bias and discrimination in algorithmic decision-making, how AI bears on the value of human autonomy, the right to a human decision, the nature and value of human-robot relationship, AI applications in health care, the moral status of AI, the place of work in human life and the implications of AI for the workplace, and the ways in which AI and digital technology pose threats to, but also opportunities for, democratic governance.

Ethics in AI scholarships will cover university fees, irrespective of fee status, and provide a maintenance stipend for the period of fee liability. The maintenance stipend is set according to UKRI indicative level. The funding level changes on a yearly basis following inflation rate. Please visit the UKRI website for the most up-to-date figures.

There is no separate application process for these scholarships. The department you apply to by the January deadline for your course will automatically consider all eligible offer holders for this funding and nominate candidates to the Ethics in AI Funding selection committee for assessment. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview. Scholarship holders will be selected for their outstanding academic merit and potential.

College-based Scholarships

Graduate students in Philosophy may be considered for college-based scholarships. Below is a list of some of the college-based scholarships which may offer funding for our graduate courses in philosophy. Please refer to each college's individual graduate funding page for further information on the full range of scholarships available and the application process for each.

Open to all graduate applicants for courses in the Humanities in which Worcester College admits students and who specify Worcester College as their first choice College. The scholarship will provide funding for one year only up to a maximum of £10,000 per annum towards the full cost of fees and maintenance and includes certain SCR dining rights. More information on the Drue Heinz Scholarship is available here. Details of this scholarship for entry in October 2024 will be published as soon as possible.

Corpus Christi College intends to offer one fully-funder scholarship to support a student on a DPhil in Philosophy which focusses on existential phenomenology or with an emphasis on Post-Kantian European Philosophy.

The scholarship is open to all new applicants for a DPhil in Philosophy in the above area.

The scholarship will cover fees and provide a stipend based on the UKRI's minimum doctoral stipend for the duration of a student's fee liability (normally three years) plus an additional year's stipend should a fourth year of study be required.

For further information on the scholarship, and the application process, visit the Corpus Christi College Graduate Funding website.

Details of this scholarship for entry in October 2024 will be published as soon as possible.

Green Templeton College, one of the colleges nearest to the Faculty, offer a variety of scholarships for graduate students. For more information please see the Green Templeton College funding webpage.

The Jowett Scholarship, offered by Balliol College, is a partial scholarship and will be awarded to a student admitted to join the MSt in Ancient Philosophy in 2023-24. Further information can be viewed at the Balliol College websiteDetails of this scholarship for entry in October 2024 will be published as soon as possible.

The studentship covers course fees and provides a generous grant for living expenses. The three-year scholarship is aimed at students for a graduate degree in Philosophy. Dr Joyce Mitchell Cook was a St Hilda's alumna, and was the first Black American woman to receive a PhD in Philosophy in the USA. The College's generous alumni have raised funds to support this studentship in her name. There is no separate application form for the Black Academic Futures Awards. All you need to do to be considered is apply for a philosophy graduate course by the relevant January application deadline.

St Cross College offers two MPhil Scholarships for students studying at the University of Oxford for an MPhil degree in any of the humanities and social science disciplines or for the BPhil degree in Philosophy. The Scholarships each have the value of £5,000 per annum and are each tenable for two years coterminous with fee liability (but only one year for the one-year MPhil in Law course). For further details please go to the St Cross College funding webpage.  

The Queen's College may offer the Neda Agha-Soltan Scholarship in Philosophy to one student on any graduate programme offered by the Faculty of Philosophy, with preference given to Iranian nationals. The scholarship covers living expenses at the UKRI rate for one year. For more information on this scholarship, please see the Queen's College funding webpage.

Regent’s Park College may offer the Pamela Sue Anderson Studentship for the Encouragement of the Place of Women in Philosophy, worth up to £4000 for a student who is currently engaged in, or has been accepted for, postgraduate study at the University of Oxford. 

Reflecting the distinguished contribution to scholarship of the late Professor Anderson (1955-2017), preference will be given to applicants in the fields of feminist philosophy or feminist philosophy of religion, or, failing that and as an absolute requirement, to a person working on philosophy of a kind that encourages the place of women in philosophy.  The studentship will be tenable for as long as the selection committee deems appropriate, subject to the condition that it shall not be tenable beyond the duration of the student’s postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford.  The holder of the scholarship is required to be, or to become, a member of Regent’s Park College, Oxford. 

For more information please see Regent's Park College's funding webpage.

St Anne's College, in partnership with the Faculty of Philosophy, is offering a scholarship in Ethics to a student on the BPhil or the DPhil in Philosophy. The scholarship will cover fees at the Home rate in the first academic year, and the scholarship may be renewed for a further year if progress is satisfactory. For further information visit the St Anne's scholarships page.

Balliol College are offering the Tang Scholarship to a student studying for the BPhil or DPhil in the Faculty of Philosophy or the DPhil in Legal Philosophy in the Faculty of Law who are researching a topic related to the rule of law in its broadest sense.

The Scholarship may be offered in conjunction with a University Clarendon Fund award, or it may be awarded separately. When awarded jointly with a Clarendon Scholarship, the Scholarship covers all University and College fees, and a grant for living expenses. If the Scholarship is awarded alone, its value will be up to £15,000 per annum. 

Applicants must apply to the University of Oxford for admission to a higher degree by the University's second deadline in January. No separate application is required to be considered for this award. For more information on this scholarship, please see the Balliol College Scholarships for Graduates webpage.

Pembroke College offers the Atkinson Scholarship, which is open to current or past students of Melbourne University applying for DPhil programmes at Oxford in Theology, Law, Medicine or Philosophy. Further details can be found at the college website.

External Scholarships

A summary of external scholarships and search facilities can be found on the External Scholarships webpage. These are managed by organisations external to Oxford, therefore various application processes and closing dates will apply.  If you have any questions, please contact the relevant organisation directly. Some external scholarships are summarised below however do note this list is not exhaustive.

 

The Barry Scholarship is an academic prize which provides full funding for a minimum of two years of graduate study at the University of Oxford. It is awarded in recognition of a student's dedication to the academic vocation and the pursuit of truth. Generously funded by the John and Daria Barry Foundation, the Scholarship is an initiative of the Canterbury Institute, an Oxford-based charity that seeks to rediscover the academic vocation. 

There is no application process for this prize, but instead nominations are received from an existing pool of academic volunteers. Find more information about the Barry Scholarship here

The British Society for the Philosophy of Science (BSPS) is offering a doctoral scholarship for doctoral work in philosophy of science at a UK university, subject to a candidate of sufficient merit presenting themselves. Further information on this BSPS Doctoral Scholarship, including what is covered by the scholarship and how to apply for it, is available on the BSPS Doctoral Scholarship webpage. Details of this scholarship for entry in October 2024 will be published as soon as possible.

Applications are now open for the Trudeau Foundation Scholarships, an external body providing scholarships to DPhil students from Canada. Applicants will need to apply directly to the Trudeau Foundation, rather than through the University of Oxford as in previous years. Details on how to apply, as well as information on eligibility, can be found on the Trudeau Foundation’s website.

Studentships Organizations for the promotion of gifted students support students with outstanding achievements financially and non-materially in their academic education. In Germany there are 13 funding bodies that award scholarships to students and doctoral candidates.

For further information, see here.

Open Philanthropy career development and transition funding aims to provide support – in the form of funding for graduate study, unpaid internships, self-study, career transition and exploration periods, and other activities relevant to building career capital – for individuals at any career stage who want to pursue careers that could help to reduce global catastrophic risks or otherwise improve the long-term future. Further information can be found at the Open Philanthropy website.

Each year the Society for Applied Philosophy offers two scholarships for doctoral work in applied philosophy in a UK university, and one further scholarship for doctoral work in applied philosophy in any University in an EU country (subject to a suitable candidate coming forward). The level of each scholarship will be up to £10,000 and will be held for one year. More information can be found at the Society's website.

The Swiss Study Foundation offers two annual scholarships for students studying or conducting research abroad for a period of one or two years. Only students who have successfully passed the selection procedure for admission to the Swiss Study Foundation are allowed to submit grant proposals. For more information on the scholarships and the Swiss Study Foundation, please see their website

Wellcome are offering Doctoral Studentships (usually for three years) for students completing a DPhil in any Humanities or Social Science area. For more information on this scholarship, please see the Wellcome Doctoral Studentships webpage.

The World Universities Ramsay Postgraduate Scholarship supports young Australians to undertake graduate study at the world’s best universities (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Harvard, Princeton, Bologna etc.) for one, two and, in select cases, three years of graduate coursework and/or research.

Levels of support are fully competitive with the Rhodes, John Monash, Fulbright and other major scholarships.

For further information visit the Ramsay Centre website.

Postgraduate Loans

Since 1 August 2016, if you plan to take a postgraduate master’s course, you may be able to apply for a Postgraduate Loan to help with course fees and living costs. 

You are eligible if you:

  • Are under 60
  • Ordinarily live in England
  • Don’t already have a master’s degree or higher qualification

For more information, please visit the Master's Loan page of the GOV.UK website. 

Postgraduate Doctoral Loans have been introduced by the UK government for English and EU (non-UK) students commencing study from 2018-19 onwards. Information currently available, including eligibility criteria, can be found on the Doctoral Loans page of the GOV.UK website.

Applicants in the USA may also find this University of Oxford webpage about US federal loans useful. 

Other Funding Information

This is an external resource providing advice to graduates on applying for funding from sources such as charities and trusts.  It is particularly useful for graduate applicants or current graduate students who are struggling to find funding from more traditional sources. Features include a searchable database of funding opportunities, together with help on writing personal statements and a grants manager to help students keep track of their funding applications.  Current Oxford students and staff can use their University email address to register for access to the Guide via their Gateway (or use the ‘Login automatically from campus’ option).  Non-Oxford graduate applicants are able to submit their details via the online request form to receive a pin number, which they can then use to register for access to the Guide.

Applicants in the USA may find this webpage of interest. This article provides information about 'easy scholarships' to apply for, as well as a few tips on what to look for when you apply. Please visit the 'Easy Scholarships to Get' webpage for more information.