Our academics are the intellectual foundation on which College life is built, and Somerville is committed to providing an environment which nurtures and supports them.
This includes securing vulnerable posts; providing funding, opportunities and resources for early career academics; providing administrative support and funding research leave. In order to attract the most academically excellent students, we offer full scholarships which encompass all fees as well as generous living and travel allowances.
Endowing academic posts
Despite the dramatic increase in tuition fees over the last decade, drastic cuts to government grants have led to a funding crisis that is threatening the tutorial system that is recognised around the world as the gold standard in teaching. While many of our tutorial fellowships are secured through endowment, we are raising funds to secure the future of all our tutorial fellowships. Those for which we are still seeking funding are:
- Modern Languages (German)
- Ancient History
- English
- Economics
- Classics
- History
- Linguistics
- Law
- Politics
- Psychology
- Music
- Economics
There are opportunities to name some of these posts. Should you wish to discuss supporting these fellowships, please contact Sara Kalim, Director of Development, on 01865 280596 or email sara.kalim@some.ox.ac.uk
Supporting Early-Career Academics
Making your way in the academic world can be very hard as a young person. Posts can be very hard to find and funding even more so. Somerville recently spearheaded the Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship in conjunction with the Department of Chemistry which recognised the difficulties of young academics coming back into research following a break in their career. We want to provide more opportunities for young academics, to give them the resources and environment they need to embark on an academic career. Annual cost £50,000.
Scholarships
The Margaret Thatcher Scholarship Trust and the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development provide full scholarships for the most academically excellent students, enabling them to focus on their studies and experience all the benefits that Oxford has to offer without financial worries. Our ambition is to have at least 20 endowed scholarships within the two scholarship programmes. Increase endowment by £5,000,000.
Or to discuss supporting our academic initiatives further, please contact Sara Kalim, Development Director.