There are many different forms of support available for graduate students at the School of Archaeology.  Some of these are administered by the University, others by Colleges and some by the School itself.

Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture

Doctoral Studentships

The School of Archaeology invites applications for a studentship funded by a research project grant from the Leverhulme Trust. The project title is China and Inner Asia (c.1000-200BC): Interactions that changed China.

The successful applicant will be invited to join the project to investigate the ways in which the central Chinese states exploited technologies, materials and decorative styles introduced from the steppe regions and further west. These innovations appear to have stimulated strong, and often very local, responses from the Chinese states. The doctoral students will be invited to explore the ways in which these responses developed in specific regions. The project is led by Professor Jessica Rawson in the School of Archaeology and also involves a research assistant, Dr Peter Hommel, working on the Russian steppe areas north and west of present-day China.

Two students joined the group in October 2011. The third studentship will start in October 2013. The studentship is open to either international students from greater China or to Home/EU students. The financial arrangements will vary depending on the nationality of the student which will give rise to different University fees. All students will be provided with full funding for three years and with varying arrangements for fourth year funding depending on fee status. The topics in which the studentships will be offered include:

1. A study of the use of iron and gold in the central Chinese states in the period 800-200 BC.

2. The role of the north and north-west, especially regions of present Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang provinces, as intermediary border zones on the edge of centra China.

3. Alternatives to these proposals will also be considered.

Candidates should have a first degree in either archaeology or anthropology, or history or in a subject involving Chinese language if Chinese is not the applicant’s first language.

Applicants should notify Professor Jessica Rawson (jessica.rawson@merton.ox.ac.uk) as soon as possible of their intention to apply, providing email and postal addresses.

Applications for both the School of Archaeology and the studentships should be made using the main University graduate application form, and with payment of an application fee of £25. The application form, all supporting materials required for the DPhil programme (including references) and payment must be submitted by the University January 2013 application deadline.

To access the application form and application guide please visit the online prospectus at www.ox.ac.uk/graduate/apply.  On the application form, in the section headed ‘Departmental Studentship Applications’, you must indicate that you are applying for the Leverhulme China Studentship [ARCH].

Graduate Scholarship in Archaeology

St Cross College, jointly with the School of Archaeology, offers the following scholarship for students who will be studying for a DPhil in Archaeology at the University of Oxford in the academic year 2013 - 2014.

The scholarship, which is partly sponsored by the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, is open to all students taking the DPhil in Archaeology (beginning in Michaelmas 2013) at St Cross.

The St Cross Graduate Scholarship covers the cost of the College fee (currently £2,532 per annum) as well as providing an annual stipend of £7000 for the duration of study, tenable for between one and three years coterminous with college fee liability, on condition of successfully completing Transfer of Status.The successful scholar will be guaranteed to have a room in College accommodation (at the standard rent) for the first year of their course.

The Graduate Scholarship is awarded purely on the basis of academic merit and is tenable at St Cross College only.

Applicants entering into DPhil status in 2013-2014 should apply for a place in the School of Archaeology using the University's standard application form and must list St. Cross College as their first choice. The application deadline is Friday 8th March 2013 (the final Graduate Admissions deadline). Everyone who applies for the DPhil in Archaeology and lists St Cross as their first choice of college (and who applies at any time before the final Admissions deadline) will be considered automatically.

Wenner Gren funding for Conference Bursaries

Generous funding from the Wenner Gren Foundation has been granted to enable scholars from the developing world to attend the European Research Council-funded Proto-Globalisation in the Indian Ocean World Conference, November 7-10, 2013.  The grant includes funding for two competitive bursaries for early career scholars whose research examines contact and interaction in the early Indian Ocean.  Junior scholars (post-doctoral level and above) from Africa and South/Southeast Asia are invited to apply. 

The deadline for applications is Friday 17 May, 2013.  To find out more about the Proto-Globalisation in the Indian Ocean World Conference and the conference bursary competition, please go to the Sealinks website, www.sealinks.com.