Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) Scholarships
These scholarships have been established by the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies to allow graduates to pursue study of benefit to the Muslim world.
About
The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies is an institution for the advanced study of Islam and the Muslim world. The Centre provides a meeting point for the Western and Islamic worlds of learning. At Oxford, it contributes to the multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary study of the Islamic world. Beyond Oxford, its role is strengthened by an international network of academic contacts. For more information, please refer to the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies website.
The scholarship will cover 100% of course fees and a grant for living costs (at least £19,237). Awards are made for the full duration of your fee liability for the agreed course. Awards may be offered in conjunction with other sources of funding, although this will be taken into account when determining the value of the award.
Scholarship outcomes
Applicants will be contacted by June 2025. We regret that we are unable to provide individual feedback due to the volume of applications we receive.
Eligibility
You must be applying to start a new full-time Master's or DPhil course at Oxford.
You must be either:
- ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and from a Muslim community (with preference given to those from a financially disadvantaged household), or
- a national of, and ordinarily resident in, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen.
You should be intending to return to your country of ordinary residence once your course is completed.
Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of academic merit and financial need. Financial need will be assessed using the information provided in your Oxford application.
You should be intending to undertake study in a field derived from or of relevance to the Islamic tradition, or which is of relevance and/or benefit to the Muslim world.
This scholarship is not open to candidates applying for postgraduate certificate or postgraduate diploma courses, part-time courses or non-matriculated courses.
Candidates who hold deferred offers to start in 2025-26 will not be considered for this scholarship.
How to apply
In order to be considered for this scholarship, you must complete the following steps:
- tick the box for the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Scholarship in the University of Oxford Scholarships section of the University's graduate application form;
- submit your application for full-time Master's or DPhil study by the relevant December/January deadline. See the relevant course page for the deadline applicable to your course; and
- complete an Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Scholarships Supporting Statement (see related documents on this page) and upload it, together with your graduate application form, by the deadline.
We will use the details you supply on the graduate application form to assess your nationality and country of ordinary residence. For a definition of ordinary residency, and further details on how to complete this section of the graduate application form, please see the 'Nationality and ordinary residence' section of the graduate application form and the advice contained with the Application Guide.
To be eligible for consideration for this scholarship, applicants must be successful in being offered a place on their course after consideration of applications received by the relevant December/January deadline. Course applications which are held over after the December/January deadline to be re-evaluated against applications received by the March deadline, or course applications which have been put on a waiting list, are not eligible for scholarship consideration.