Visiting Research Fellows & Visiting Scholars

The VRF Scheme

The scheme is intended to attract eminent researchers to Oxford and Merton College. The scheme offers free accommodation and meals. There are normally two Visiting Research Fellows resident in any term. Fellowships can be held for one to three terms. Every application has to be sponsored by a Fellow of the College and applications are considered in a gathered field at the end of September each year.

The 2027-28 competition is now open with a deadline of Friday 25 September 2026. View the Further Particulars. Any questions can be addressed to vrfrecruitment@merton.ox.ac.uk.

Upcoming Visiting Research Fellows

• Michaelmas term 2026 - Ekta Kaul (Creative Arts – Textiles)
• Michaelmas term 2026 – Professor Anne Dunlop
• Hilary term 2027 - Osman Yousefzada (Creative Arts – Textiles)
• Hilary term 2027 – Professor Mark Lewis
• Hilary term 2027 – Professor Ian Fleishman
• Trinity term 2027 - Majeda Clarke (Creative Arts – Textiles)
• Trinity term 2027 - Professor Johannes Paulmann
• Trinity term 2027 – Professor Kirsten Paige

2025-26 Visiting Research Fellows

• Michaelmas 2025 - Dr Caroline Batten 
• Michaelmas 2025 - Professor Mercedes Blanco 
• Michaelmas 2025 - Rosângela Rhafaelle (Creative Arts - Music)
• Michaelmas 2025 - Nelton Santos (Creative Arts -Music)
• Hilary term 2026 - Héloïse Werner (Creative Arts – Music)
• Hilary term 2026 - Jeremy Crang
• Trinity term 2026 - Claire Booth (Creative Arts – Music)
• Trinity term 2026 - Jessica Parr
• Trinity term 2026 - Franziska Jahnke

Previous Visiting Research Fellows

Previous Visiting Research Fellows have included:

• Professor Abosede Omowumi Babatunde
• Dr Phanankosi Moyo
• Professor Julian Paton
• Professor Dr Michelle Witen
• Professor Louigi Addario-Berry
• Professor Jacques Lezra
• Professor Suzannah Clarke
• Professor Stuart Jones
• Ben Haggarty
• Dr Jonas-Sebastien Beaudry
• Professor Christopher Skinner
• Dr Yijie Zhuang
• Professor Mihyun Kung
• Professor Athena Tsingarida
• Professor Antonis Rokas
• Dr Cheryl Frances-Hoad
• Professor Marc Domingo Gygax
• Professor Hye-Won Kang
• Professor David Wood
• Will Eaves
• Professor Simon Shaw-Miller
• Kirsty Gunn
• Professor Garegin Papoian
• Professor Jean-Louis Ferrary
• Penny Boxall
• Professor Jonathan Schneer
• Professor Yoram Rudy
• Kieran Stiles
• Professor David Hutchinson
• Professor Dominic Janes
• Professor Rebecca Fortnum
• Professor Elizabeth Wilmer
• Professor Eric Saylor
• Professor Paul Kovacs, University of Virginia
• Professor Michael Goldberg, Cornell University
• Dr Markus Späth, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
• Dr Birgitta Eder, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Professor Robert Tampé, Goethe University
• Professor Hans Othmer, University of Minnesota
• Professor Francisco Pina Polo, Universidad de Zaragoza
• Professor John Tyson, Virginia Poly Institute & State University
• Professor Junhyong Kim, University of Pennsylvania
• Professor Graham Bell, McGill University
• Professor Steven Ellis, NUI Galway
• Professor Barton Beebe, New York University
• Professor Per Helander, Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics
• Professor Kai Behrend, University of British Columbia
• Professor Benny Sudakov, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich
• Professor Bruce Harris, University of Auckland
• Professor Cary Forest, University of Wisconsin
• Professor Chad Carmichael, Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis
• Professor Daniel Neumark, University of California, Berkeley
• Professor Jewel Brooker, Eckerd College, Florida
• Dr Koen Verboven, University of Ghent
• Bevis Bowden
• Professor Christina Kraus
• Professor Tünde Fülöp
• Joumana Medlej (Creative Arts)
• Professor Mark Carrington 
• Professor Anne Fernald 
• Fanny Marcelle Djomkam
• Gareth Brookes (Creative Arts)

All Visiting Scholars and Visiting Research Fellows have to be nominated by a Fellow of the College. Fellows can check availability on the intranet.