Oxford Uehiro St Cross Visiting Programme

St Cross College Oxford, main doorway with a bicycle beside it

This Visiting Programme has been established by the Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education with a view to providing opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral and senior academics who are ordinarily resident in Japan to study or conduct research at the University of Oxford for nine or twelve months as a Visiting Scholar. The award is available in the field of practical ethics. A successful graduate student candidate will normally be supervised by a Director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre and academic staff at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and a successful postdoctoral or senior academic candidate will conduct their own relevant research at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.  Successful candidates in either case will reside at St Cross College enabling him/her to benefit from the true Oxford college experience. The Visiting Programme aims to provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers.

Oxford Uehiro-St Cross Visiting Programme 2024/2025

Eligibility

To be eligible for the award a candidate must:

(a)  be a graduate student, postdoctoral researcher or Lecturer/Professor at a university in Japan in the field of bioethics, practical ethics, medical ethics, or applied ethics. If no suitable candidate from within these disciplines presents him/herself, applications from other Humanities and Social Sciences may also be considered, as long as the applicant’s research pertains to or has relevance to practical ethics

(b)  be adequately proficient in English to satisfy UK Border Agency visa requirement (target IELTS 7 or TOEFL iBT100)

(c)   provide a report on returning to Japan

(d)  the award is available to individuals who are ‘ordinarily resident in Japan’ and planning to return home after their period of study or research in Oxford

(e)  be an individual whose native language is Japanese

Duration

For nine or twelve months, beginning in October; requests to begin an award in April will be considered depending on circumstances. 

Number of awards available

Up to two awards in total will be available for each academic year.

Applications for 2024/25 academic year are to be submitted between 15 February and 15 March 2024.

Amount of Award

Up to £30,000 per award as required to cover the following expenses:

Course fee (for graduate students); College fee; Living costs; One round trip airfare to/from the UK; Visa application cost and NHS surcharge.  

Application materials (all in English)

  • One-page research proposal
  • CV
  • Three academic references (for graduate students one should be from your academic supervisor)
  • Academic essay or other writing sample
  • IELTS English language proficiency certificate - target IELTS 7 (overall band score) or TOEFL iBT100) 

All the application documents should be submitted between 15 February and 15 March 2024 by email to: University of Oxford Japan Office at info@oxfordujapan.org under the heading "Oxford Uehiro-St Cross Visiting Programme".

Academic references should be sent directly to the Japan Office by post or by email to info@oxfordujapan.org under the heading "Visiting Programme Reference for NAME OF APPLICANT". If sent by email, the referee should send directly from his or her university/institution domain. If sent by post, the referee should send directly to University of Oxford Japan Office, Sanbancho UF Building 1F, 6-3 Sanbancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0075.

Selection process

(a) screening of application materials by Oxford Uehiro Centre academic staff
(b) interview(s) by Oxford Uehiro Centre academic staff (via skype and/or telephone)

The final decision will be made by a Director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. 

The expectation is that successful graduate student candidates will have Recognized Student status at the University of Oxford.

The successful candidate will be asked to supply the one-page research proposal and the CV in Japanese when the offer is made.

For information see: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/new/recognised

Other sources of information that may be of interest:

Please note that in the highly unusual circumstances whereby an award is offered and accepted but the recipient cancels or significantly postpones their research visit, depending on the reasons for this decision the individual may be responsible for expenses undertaken in preparation for their visit.