Finance and Funding (Postgraduate)

Crewdson MSt / DPhil Scholarship

Harris Manchester College offers a Graduate Studentship in Theology, tenable from 1st October 2023. This will be awarded either to a student reading for a Theology MSt (MSt Theology or MSt Philosophical Theology) or a DPhil Theology student. If awarded to an MSt student, the scholarship would be £20,000. If awarded to a DPhil student, the scholarship would be worth £13,000 awarded annually for up to three years, renewable each year subject to satisfactory academic progress. There will be a maximum of one scholarship holder at a time and can be awarded only to those who are due to start in October 2023. The closing date for this round of applications is 19th May 2023.

Preference will be given to applicants working in an area broadly sympathetic to the aims of the Crewdson Trust, which are to promote study and research in Christian theology relevant to the production of contemporary re-statements of the Christian faith or its application, and also to encourage research into the role of religion in eliminating violence and promoting peace. In the case of applications for the doctoral scholarship, preference will be given to candidates whose doctoral research reflects the aims of the trust and in particular the interests of its founder, Joan Crewdson, e.g., sharing Joan Crewdson’s interests in liberal theology, the interaction of theology and society, and/or the interaction of theology and philosophy. 

Applicants are asked to complete an application form, available here. DPhil applicants should supply a statement of their proposed research and how this might match the aims of the trust as set out above. MSt applicants are encouraged to do the same in relation to any master’s dissertations or subsequent research they may be planning, although it is recognized that such statements are unlikely to be as detailed or definite. Applicants should also supply a financial statement. Applications should be sent to the Admissions Officer at Harris Manchester College (admissions@hmc.ox.ac.uk) by the closing date of 19th May 2023. Applicants should also supply a CV and two academic references. Please ask your referees to email their references to the Crewdson Trustees c/o the Admissions Officer at Harris Manchester College by the closing date.

Crewdson Trust Awards

Applications for awards (usually of up to two thousand pounds) from the Crewdson Trust are invited from Oxford students doing advanced degrees in Theology. The aims of the trust are to promote study and research in Christian theology relevant to the production of contemporary re-statements of the Christian faith or its application, and also to encourage research into the role of religion in eliminating violence and promoting peace. The trustees may also award travelling bursaries, book bursaries and prizes relevant to the above aims. Grants will generally be restricted to UK residents doing advanced degrees in Theology at the University of Oxford. Please note that this means students currently doing a postgraduate degree that includes a substantial element of postgraduate level research in their current year of study (which could include a master’s dissertation), and so will normally exclude students doing the PGDip or the first year of the MTh.

Anyone wishing to apply should write to the Secretary to the Crewdson Trust, Dr Eric Eve, Harris Manchester College (eric.eve@hmc.ox.ac.uk). Applicants will then be sent a form to complete and return to the Secretary, asking for a brief description of their studies and how they match the aims of the trust, a financial statement providing evidence of need, a reference from their supervisor and a current CV. Applications will only be considered once all these materials have been received. The closing date for this round of applications is 19th May 2023, and the trustees will decide on the making of awards early the following month.