CaribOx: The Caribbean Oxford Initiative

About
The Caribbean Oxford Initiative

logo designed by Kareen Cox (Absolutely Kareen)

 

The Caribbean Oxford Initiative - CaribOx for short - is a new visiting fellowship and travel grant programme designed to stimulate purposeful and long-lasting collaboration between researchers from institutions in the Caribbean and the University of Oxford. The programme aims to be a nucleus for world-class international research and knowledge exchange across disciplines and across career paths and stages.

 

 

 

 

TORCH will be managing a pilot year of the Initiative in 2025, and CaribOx will offer two pathways for cross-institutional collaboration between the Caribbean and Oxford:

 

  1. Two Visiting Fellowships to support collaborations between researchers at a Caribbean institution and at the University of Oxford. The elected fellows will be affiliated with the University of Oxford for twelve months, with a ten month long virtual engagement starting from January 2025. A two month in-person visit to Oxford will take place between May and June 2025 (Trinity Term).
  2. One travel grant to support a researcher at an institution in the Caribbean to undertake a two-week research visit at the University of Oxford.

 

CaribOx is informed by advice received from an interdisciplinary and transnational Steering Group and Advisory Board from the Caribbean and elsewhere.  The funding in the first instance is provided by All Souls College as one of several steps addressing its Codrington legacy.

 

Applications for the CaribOx Visiting Fellowships and Travel Grants are now closed for 2025. We will reopen applications in 2025 for researchers to come to Oxford in 2026.  Please check our Funding Opportunities page for more details in due course.

 

Key Contacts:

CaribOx Academic Lead: María del Pilar Blanco

CaribOx Project Officer: Helena Neimann Erikstrup

TORCH International Officer: Anbara Khalidi (currently on maternity leave)

 

For any questions about CaribOx, please refer to the FAQs section or contact the CaribOx Project Officer at: caribox@torch.ox.ac.uk

People

CaribOx Steering Group:

Cécile Bishop, Department of Modern Languages

Santanu Das, Faculty of English

David Howard, Sustainable Urban Development

Neil Kenny, Department of Modern Languages

Nicole King, Faculty of English

Patricia Kingori, Nuffield Department of Population Health

Anne Makena, Program Coordinator – African Oxford Initiative, and Nuffield Department of Medicine

Nakita K Noel, Department of Physics

David Pyle, Department of Earth Sciences

Marenka Thompson-Odlum, Research Curator, Pitt Rivers Museum

Carlos Vargas-Silva, Centre on Migration Policy and Society

CaribOx Advisory Board:

Antonio Carmona Báez, University of St. Martin, President

Peter Chami, UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Director of School for Graduate Studies & Research

Nigel Clarke, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Jamaica

Alissandra Cummins, Director of the Museum and Historical Society of Barbados

Charles Forsdick, University of Cambridge, Drapers Professor in French

Aldrie Henry-Lee, UWI, Mona Campus, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Graduate Studies & Research

Michael Joseph, University of Cambridge, Assoicate Professor in Black British History

Patricia Noxolo, University of Birmingham, Professor in Human Geography

Marcia Roye, UWI, Mona Campus, Director of Graduate Studies & Research in the Faculty of Science and Technology

Agustín Rullán, Rector of the Universidad de Puerto Rico (Mayagüez Campus) 

Duraisamy Saravanakumar, UWI, St Augustine Campus, Director, School for Graduate Studies & Research

Matthew Smith, UCL, Director of Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery

 

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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

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  • Ten months of virtual engagement with the nominated Oxford collaborator and the CaribOx Project Officer.
  • A two month in-person visit to Oxford between Sunday 27 April to Saturday 21 June 2025.
  • A University Card for access to online resources available through the University of Oxford, valid for 1 calendar year.
  • A per-diem towards the cost of subsistence while in Oxford.
  • The full cost of return economy-class flights to/from the UK.
  • Association and accommodation through All Souls College during residency in Oxford. This will include membership of the Common Room (which gives access to a common space reserved for the use of academics and members of the teaching staff, as well as the right to eat lunch and dinner without charge).
  • Visa application and logistical support for travel to/from Oxford.
  • Visa costs
  • Support and facilitation for virtual events and activities through TORCH.
  • Please note that we do not cover health insurance.

The elected fellows will be affiliated with the University of Oxford for twelve months starting from January 2025. This will include a ten month-long virtual engagement, and a two month in-person visit to Oxford, which will take place between Sunday 27 April to Saturday 21 June 2025 (Trinity Term).

No, the fellowship only covers the elected fellow.

No. We welcome applicants from all disciplines.

No, we welcome all areas of research. 

No. The Visiting Fellowship is for researchers who are legal residents of a Caribbean country (including the Windward and Leeward Islands) and fully employed by an academic institution based in the Caribbean (including the Windward and Leeward Islands). The applicant’s contract of employment should cover the length of the Fellowship.

Yes. It is necessary for the applicant to have established contact with a researcher, affiliated with the University of Oxford, before applying. The applicant and Oxford Collaborator do not need to have worked together before the start of the fellowship but have the potential to do so during the fellowship. 

No, but the applicant and Oxford Collaborator need to have research crossovers that they can build upon during the fellowship.

If you do not already have an Oxford collaborator in mind, please consult the Oxford website to find a potential collaborator and contact them before submitting your application:  www.ox.ac.uk/about/divisions-and-departments.  

 

When you have identified a potential collaborator, we encourage you to send an email:

  • Introducing yourself and your project.
  • Outlining your proposed project in one paragraph.
  • Explaining how you share similar research interests.

 

If your potential Oxford Collaborator agrees to support your application, please ask them to complete the statement of support form, and submit it via email to: caribox@torch.ox.ac.uk before the deadline, Monday 23rd September 2024, 17.00 UK time.

Please email caribox@torch.ox.ac.uk and we will do the best we can to help you.

In this section of the application form, please introduce the research you wish to undertake while in Oxford, and any potential outcomes of your project, including longer-term opportunities for collaboration outcomes of working with your Oxford Collaborator. Please include a proposed timeline of activities, and any specific resources at the university you intend to make use of during your Fellowship. The proposal should not be more than 1000 words.  

We aim to announce the outcome at the beginning of November.

Please send your application to caribox@torch.ox.ac.uk. Include your name and ‘CaribOx Visiting Fellowship’ or 'CaribOx Travel Grant' in the subject title.

No. Two Visiting Fellowships are offered per year, regardless of disciplinary area.

Yes, you can apply for and be considered for both.

Yes. Closing deadlines for applications have not been confirmed yet, but both Travel Grants and Visiting Fellowships will be offered for Trinity Term (April-June) 2026 and subsequent years.

No. The awardees will not be housed at All Souls College but the stipend will cover accommodation elsewhere.

Yes. The Travel Grant supports already-existing research projects, which will benefit from the resources available at the University of Oxford.

Please email caribox@torch.ox.ac.uk

You can view these FAQs as a single document here.

Opportunities