Oxford Symposium Awards and Grants

Oxford Symposium Student Research Grants and Best Paper Prize

▪ Student Research Grants

The Friends of the Oxford Symposium offer a limited number of grants to students who have had a proposal accepted for presentation at the Symposium. To be eligible, you must declare that you are a student on your paper proposal. All students from undergraduate through PhD programs are eligible. The grant is £200 for UK students and £350 for students who study outside the UK. This grant is in addition to whatever funding you may receive from your institution. It is also in addition to the first-come-first-serve discounted registration offered to the first 30 registered students. Recipients receive their funds at the Symposium in a public presentation.

▪ Prizes for Best Student Paper Presentations

An additional £500 is allocated at the discretion of the awards committee to the best paper-presentations by a student, including those already in receipt of a Student Research Grant. You must have declared that you are a student on your paper proposal to be eligible for this award.
Recipients receive their funds at the Symposium in a public presentation.

▪ Prize for Best Presentation by a First-time Presenter who is not a student.

Friends of the Oxford Symposium also make a discretionary award of £150 to the best presentation by a first-time non-student presenter. You must have declared that you are a first-time presenter on your paper proposal to be eligible for this award.

Young Chefs’ Grant

The Friends of the Oxford Symposium, depending on available funds, awards two to four free places at the Symposium to culinary professionals with not more than ten years in the industry as a Young Chef Grant. Winners of the Grant receive one free place to attend all Symposium sessions, assistance with travel expenses, and the opportunity to help prepare our inaugural Friday dinner working alongside Tim Kelsey of the St. Catherine’s College kitchen and the invited guest chef (past guests include Fergus Henderson, Allegra McEvedy, Jacob Kenedy, and Olia Hercules). The aim of the Grant is simple: to enrich your approach to food and cooking and widen your horizon beyond the stove. If you’re interested, please send a one-page pdf document that includes the following: a short statement explaining why you would like to attend the Symposium and in what way this would benefit you, a summary of your educational background and your cooking experience, and links to any of your social media that relate to food, such as a Twitter/Instagram feed or Facebook page.The deadline for submissions is March 1st of the respective year. Please address correspondence to chefgrants.oxfordsymposium@gmail.com.

I was surprised by how welcoming everyone is and you learn something from every conversation you have.
Deborah Ryan – winner 2017

Read Deborah’s report here

I can’t wait to be part of this event again
Girish Nyak – winner 2017
Read Girish’s report here

“My advice to the next Young Chefs is to take every opportunity you can to meet the people who attend and get stuck into the work in the kitchen at St Catz. It will be an experience you will never forget!”
Naomi Kelsey – winner 2016
Read Naomi’s report here

“I was heady with excitement to be able to work in the kitchen at such an event.This is a wonderful opportunity for any emerging chef!”
Keelin Tobin – winner 2014
Read Keelin’s full report here

The meals in 2017 included a Boyne Valley Banquet organised by Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire and Fáilte Ireland and a culinary tribute to the contested borderlands of Armenia and Turkey organised by Gamze İneceli and İhsan Karayazı in association with the Culinary Arts Academy of Istanbul.

Some of our previous visiting chefs:
Fergus Henderson, Allegra McEvedy, Shaun Hill, Aglaia Kremezi, Rowley Leigh, Jeremy Lee, Jacob Kenedy, Trine Hahnemann, Olia Hercules.

Student Discounted Places

The first 30 students to register may register at the discounted student rate of £285 for full room and board. See the registration page for details.

The Sophie Coe Prize in Food History

The Sophie Coe Prize is the longest-running and most generous prize for writing in food history in the English language, given once a year for an essay or article of up to 10,000 words on any aspect of the history of food. First awarded in 1995, the fund that administers the prize was founded in memory of Sophie Coe, the eminent food historian who died in 1994. The winner is chosen every year by an anonymous panel of distinguished judges and awarded at the Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery to the author of an original, informative article or essay on some aspect of food history that embodies new research or provides new insights.

For full details of the prize, its conditions, entry information and contact details, please visit the Sophie Coe Prize website.
Download a How To Enter PDF.

Read winning essays from previous years at The Sophie Coe Prize website

The OFS Rising Scholar Award

The OFS Rising Scholar Award (formerly known as the Cherwell Studentship) supports research by young scholars. Made possible by an anonymous donation and overseen by the American Friends of the Oxford Symposium, the Studentship awards an immediate US$1000 grant and a second payment, given at the Oxford Symposium, which covers the Symposium’s attendance fees as well as transport to and from Oxford. Applicants must be 30 or under (i.e. not have celebrated their 31st birthday by the start of the Symposium) and are expected to present the results of their research at the Symposium. Submissions for the Award should be emailed to cathykkaufman@gmail.com no later than February 1 2019.

For details, including submission requirements, judging criteria, and contact information, please see the PDF : OFS Rising Scholar Award.

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