Visiting Research Fellowship in the Creative Arts for 2026-27

Merton College Oxford invites applications for a Visiting Research Fellowship in the Creative Arts for 2026-27. Applications are invited in any area of Textiles.

The College will provide meals and accommodation and a stipend of up to £2480.08 per month, with additional provision for expenses involving research, travel, and materials up to a maximum of £317 per month.

The Fellowship can be held for any period between two months and one year, the timescale being determined by the needs of the proposed project.

The principal goal of this scheme is to create synergies between the creative arts and academia and promote the College as a centre for artistic research and innovation. The holder of the Fellowship, which is open both to early-career and established candidates, will be expected to undertake a sustained period of intensive work in their field while also participating fully in College life and exploring ways to communicate their work to all members of the College community: fellows, staff, students, and alumni.

Further details on this Fellowship may be found in the Further Particulars on our via the 'Apply' button above.

Those wishing to apply for this post should complete the online application on the college website and send the following documents as a single pdf document (in this exact order) to vacancies@merton.ox.ac.uk by noon on Friday 30 January 2026:

• A curriculum vitae;

• A plan of the work that they intend to carry out during the fellowship;

• A description of how they intend to engage the College community with their work. This might include details of master-classes, workshops, public lectures, etc.; and

• Details of any pre-existing contractual agreements for performances, exhibitions, productions or publications;

The PDF should be named in the format ‘Last Name First Name Application’. Please put your last name and ‘VRF in the Creative Arts’ in the subject of the email.

Applicants should also send to vacancies@merton.ox.ac.uk a selective portfolio illustrative of their work (which might include photographs and descriptions of key aspects of their creative practice, and links to any relevant websites they wished to bring to the committee’s attention). The document should be named in the format ‘Last Name First Name Portfolio’. Please note that email attachments are limited to a maximum of 20MB per email, so you may need to e mail your portfolio separately to your application and also consider compressing the documents as a zip file. If you encounter any issues with the size of your portfolio, please contact us prior to the closing date at vacancies@merton.ox.ac.uk  for assistance.

Applicants should arrange for two referees who should write by the closing date to the HR Team at vacancies@merton.ox.ac.uk. Candidates are responsible for requesting references from their referees and for ensuring that references arrive on time.

The deadline for candidates to submit any queries in relation to the post or application process is 9.00am on Friday 23 January 2026. Any enquiries should be directed in the first instance to the HR Team at vacancies@merton.ox.ac.uk

Merton College is an equal opportunities employer.

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