Visiting Scholarship Scheme

Visiting Scholars will be senior academics (normally those who have reached the equivalent of Professor or Associate Professor) or have a distinguished track record in their field. Visiting Scholars will undertake their own research and writing while benefitting from the intellectual support of OCLW and Wolfson College.

Successful applicants will have the title of Visiting Scholars of the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing for the duration of their stay, can participate in all its events during that time, and will have access to our Visiting Scholars group, which meets weekly in a hybrid format. There is no supervisory structure to the placement, but scholars are encouraged to meet with each other to discuss their work outside of the group if they wish to.

Visiting Scholars will obtain membership of Wolfson Common Room (entitling the scholar to a University Card and use of the Bodleian Library; use of the college library and sports facilities; room hire and eligibility of most College committees). Visiting Scholars may join College clubs and societies (a charge may apply for some clubs), attend Guest Night dinners and bring guests to dine in Hall for lunch and dinner (all meals are paid for by the scholar). They may also apply to the Accommodation Office for housing during their stay, although there is a great demand, and it may not be possible to meet scholars' needs.

Thanks to a generous donation to OCLW, successful candidates will not be required to pay the usual fees, although these continue to be listed on the college website for non-OCLW Visiting Scholars at a rate of £539 per term. OCLW will cover the £500 termly administration fee, Scholars will only be required to pay £39 per term Common Room membership fee. Beyond this, we do not provide funding (or help in searching for funding) for accommodation, travel, or living expenses.

If you are already a member of Oxford University, or otherwise do not require College membership for your project, please apply in the usual way, but state at the top of your cover letter that you are not applying for College membership.

Profiles of our current Visiting Scholars can be found on our People page.

In the first instance, send a CV and 1 page proposal of your project to admin.oclw@wolfson.ox.ac.uk. Please indicate in your email your ideal start date and intended duration of your scholarship.

If OCLW considers your proposal a good fit, we will then invite you to submit a formal application to become a member of Wolfson College, for review by the Fellowships and Membership Committee.

Please note that you usually cannot be a Visiting Scholar at Wolfson College if you are already a member of another college or employed by the University.

Graduate students are not eligible for the Visiting Scholarship scheme, but can apply for a Visiting Doctoral Studentship.

We will acknowledge receipt of all applications via email. If you don't receive an acknowledgement please contact us again.