Graduate Support
Support for Graduate Scholarships this year amounted to £782k.
Thanks to an incredibly generous matched giving scheme at Oxford University, implemented to support fundraising for Graduate Scholarships, we were able to secure matched funding for Scholarships for graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds, including the Black Academic Futures scheme (BAFS), refugees (RAFS) and those coming from a care background (CAFS).
This year at Keble, we welcomed three students funded by the BAFS. Next year, we are delighted to be able to host another three students on the scheme. This has been made possible by a donor who provided a gift of £33,000 during the March 2023 Giving Day, which enabled us to access £66,000 in matched funding. The Sloane Robinson Foundation have confirmed that they will continue their generous support of graduate students at Keble, and have pledged to increase their annual provision to part-fund 15 graduates per year for a further four years to 2026-27. Keble also continued the Lui Scholarship in Law, and established the Angus Hawkins Scholarship in History (see below). In 2022-23, Oxford University launched the Graduate Scholarship Scheme for Ukraine Refugees, with a number of participating colleges contributing funding to host a graduate on the scheme. See below for an interview with Keble Scholar Oleksandra Kudinova.
The highly competitive Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships, which provide leadership training for students who wish to return to their countries of origin after their studies, have been running at Oxford since 2007. There are currently 35 Scholars across seven colleges, and Keble is proud to take five Scholars on the programme each year, all funded by philanthropy. The course includes, alongside the taught Master’s programmes the students are on, a tailor-made Leadership Programme to jump-start the ambitions of young leaders, equipping them to return to their regions and countries of origin to make essential and meaningful contributions to the fields of Sustainability, Business, Law, Education, and Digital Technologies, Governance, Diplomacy and Health. In 2022-23, our WHT Scholars came from Bolivia, Israel, Slovakia, Malaysia and Pakistan.
This year we announced a new graduate scholarship in History, funded in memory of Professor Angus Hawkins — celebrated historian of Victorian politics, and biographer of Lord Derby. The Scholarship will be awarded to a DPhil student. We are indebted to Dr Ralph Walter and support from Megan Dent (2011) and Michael Dent, and Mark Chambers (1973), in enabling the scholarship to be endowed in perpetuity. Cameron Bowman will begin his Scholarship in 2023-24.
Cameron Bowman,
2023 DPhil History
“The Angus Hawkins Scholarship has been a truly life changing opportunity for me. The scholarship has gifted me the freedom to study, think and research at the highest level I can, plus I get to be part of a world leading research community!”
Keble, in conjunction with the Law Faculty, is pleased to offer the Lui Scholarship in Law. The award, worth £25,000, is available to students accepted for the Bachelor in Civil Law (BCL) who are ordinarily resident in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Preference is given to students from poorer backgrounds. This Scholarship, generously funded by Keble alumnus Roger Lui (1993 Jurisprudence), this year went to Nam Hin Dominic Li.
Dominic Li,
2016 BA History, BCL
“I am immensely grateful to Keble, the Law Faculty, and Roger for the Scholarship. My BCL year was formative and instrumental in my journey to the Bar, and undertaking the course would have been impossible without the support I was given. I would also like to thank Professor Peel, my college tutor, for his wisdom and advice.”
In 2022-23, Oxford University launched the Graduate Scholarship Scheme for Ukraine Refugees, with a number of participating colleges contributing funding to host a graduate on the scheme. Keble welcomed one Ukrainian Scholar, Oleksandra Kudinova, funded jointly by the KA and a generous alumnus. Next year, the scheme will continue with funding provided by XTX Markets Academic Sanctuaries Fund. The scheme was launched by Professor Lionel Tarassenko, President of Reuben College and Keble alumnus and Honorary Fellow (1975 Engineering Science).
Interview with Oleksandra Kudinova,
2022 MSc Energy Systems
“While pursuing my Master's degree in Energy Management and Energy Efficient Technologies […] in Kyiv, the war disrupted my studies, casting a shadow of uncertainty over my educational pursuits. Amidst the chaos and uncertainty, I made the difficult decision to leave Ukraine, seeking refuge and a new beginning in the United Kingdom. It was during this period of transition and rebuilding that I discovered the opportunity at the University of Oxford.”