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About the scholarship

The Caroline Miles Visiting Scholarship is awarded to early career post-doctoral researchers to visit the Ethox Centre.  The value of the scholarship is up to £2500, and is intended to assist scholars with travel and living costs during their visit.

Visiting Scholars will spend four weeks at the Ethox Centre in Oxford, pursuing a research project on a topic relating to one of the Ethox Centre’s four main research areas: global health ethics; clinical ethics; public health ethics; and research ethics.

They will benefit from the interaction with Ethox research staff and feedback on their work. They will also have the opportunity to access University libraries, and attend talks and lectures which are relevant to their interests.

Scholars will be expected to engage in the academic life of Ethox by participating in the Centre's activities (e.g. attend lectures and seminars), present at the Ethox Seminar, and write a guest blog post for the Ethox blog. They are also expected to acknowledge Ethox and the Caroline Miles Scholarship in any publications that might arise from their work here.

Find out more about our previous Caroline Miles scholars and read a blog from a past scholar about their experience. 

How to apply

The next deadline for the Caroline Miles Scholarship is 21 April 2024.

To apply for this scholarship please submit the following:        

  • 500-word statement summarising your research interests and what you hope to achieve during your visit and provisional dates of arrival and departure.
  • 2 page CV, including the name of one referee (who may be contacted if your application is short-listed)         

The application should be sent via email to the following address: admin@ethox.ox.ac.uk     

Two scholarships are to be awarded in the April 2024 round. Scholarship visits should usually take place within 15 months of the application deadline.

After April 2024, the scholarship will be awarded annually with a deadline in April each year.         

Who was Caroline miles?

Caroline Miles photoCaroline Miles (1929-2006) played a key role in the founding and development of the Ethox Centre. Her vision and also her generous financial support have made possible the creation of the Caroline Miles Scholarships. 

After studying philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Somerville College, Oxford, Caroline had a distinguished career in both the public and the private sector. Between 1956 and 1963 she was attached to the UN Secretariat in New York. In the UK she worked in the Treasury and at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. She was a member of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and of the National Enterprise Board. She acted as Market Development Consultant to the Harwell Research Laboratory and was also a partner in a wine company.

In the 1980’s she became Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre in Oxford and a Fellow of St Cross College. In 1984 Caroline was appointed Chairman (a term she much preferred to ‘Chair’) of Oxfordshire Health Authority which held the major budget under the National Health Service (NHS) for the health care of the population of Oxfordshire. It was during this time that Caroline supported and helped to obtain funding for the development of teaching in ethics, law and communication skills for medical students at the University of Oxford.

After her retirement in 1992 Caroline devoted great energy to helping to develop medical ethics in Oxford. With the help of a generous donation from the Martin Wills Trust Caroline founded the Ethox Foundation, an independent charity, and became its first chairman. When the Ethox Centre was created in the University of Oxford in 1999, Caroline, through the Foundation, supported the Centre with unstinting enthusiasm, wisdom and vision right up to her sudden death from a stroke in 2006. She left much of her estate to the Ethox Foundation thus enabling the creation of the scholarships that have been named after her. 

Caroline was always open to new ideas and specifically encouraged young people in developing their own individual careers. She had a wonderful sense of humour, an infectious laugh and that fresh, almost naïve, enthusiasm for life that is associated with young adulthood. We hope and believe that she would have strongly approved the setting up of these scholarships to enable young people to develop their ideas in an international setting and to help their careers to flourish.

What people have to say about their caroline miles scholarship experience

Ethox provides an ideal setting in which to expand your research and hone your ideas. Visitors benefit from a supportive and collegiate environment, in which colleagues are on hand to offer invaluable insights and discuss your research as it develops. Dr Richard Huxtable, Bristol University            

“Wonderful.  It is a very friendly, supportive and challenging environment.  The opportunity to present my work in progress, and receive very thoughtful, constructive comments and criticisms, was invaluable.  I also found it was an excellent networking opportunity, and I had the time to make contacts, develop friendships, with new people whom I am likely to work with in the future.”  Dr Jonathan Ives, University of Birmingham

"I had a wonderful experience at Ethox. The environment was great: friendly and relaxed yet intellectually rigorous. My time at the centre was very productive. Free from the distractions and obligations of my regular work environment, I was able to get quite a bit of writing done, and conversations with Ethox staff and another visiting scholar laid the groundwork for future collaborations." Matthew McCoy, University of Pennsylvania

"This has been a fantastic experience!  It has been a wonderful opportunity to connect with other scholars who think about bioethics in multidisciplinary ways, and it also has helped me to get essential feedback on my work from individuals of diverse backgrounds outside the US.  Ethox is a productive place with many kind and thoughtful people.  It has been an inspiring place to work; I am very grateful to the program for providing this opportunity."  Laura Bothwell, Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital