New scholarships for UK Black or ethnic minority doctoral candidates in Law

The Faculty of Law is delighted to announce four new scholarships for UK Black or ethnic minority doctoral candidates in Law, in collaboration with Merton, Christ Church, New College and Magdalen. 

These needs-based scholarships will provide full Home fees and maintenance for three years. These scholarships build on a successful model pioneered by the Centre for Criminology in association with Brasenose College.

Anne Davies, Dean of the Faculty of Law, said:

I’m delighted that we have been able to create these targeted scholarships and I would like to thank our partner colleges for pooling their resources with ours. In creating these funding opportunities, we are acknowledging that the student body across the University is not as diverse as it should be, and we are investing in the future of academia.   

The Faculty of Law is committed to attracting the very best candidates for research degrees, irrespective of their background or ability to pay. Students from Black or ethnic minority backgrounds who are ordinarily resident in the UK have been under-represented in our doctoral programme in recent years. It is hoped that the scholarships will encourage more students from these backgrounds to apply for the DPhil in Law at Oxford.

These scholarships are among several initiatives that the University is undertaking as part of its Race Equality Charter, and are a positive action measure under s.158 of the Equality Act 2010.  Many other scholarships, awarded by the University, Faculty or colleges, are available to graduate students in the Faculty of Law.

The Merton and Christ Church scholarships will be available to candidates starting in October 2021, and the New College and Magdalen scholarships will be available to candidates starting in October 2022.