Nuffield Undergraduate Scholars Institute

The Nuffield Undergraduate Scholars' Institute now falls under the umbrella of the Oxford University flagship UNIQ+ graduate access scheme.

Find out more about UNIQ+ or browse these pages to see how NUSI started.

The Nuffield Undergraduate Scholars Institute (NUSI) aimed to enhance diversity and inclusiveness within the social sciences at Oxford, and in UK academia more broadly. It launched in the summer of 2019 and, after two years in which the pandemic prevented the programme for taking place, relaunched under the UNIQ+ umbrella.

NUSI was designed for bright, motivated undergraduate students ordinarily resident in the UK, who have the potential for successful graduate study in the social sciences. The programme aimed to expand access to advanced education to students whose socioeconomic background or other life circumstances may have made it more difficult for them to reach their full educational potential, or to consider graduate study.

Developed and hosted by Nuffield College, Oxford, in partnership with the Oxford Q-Step Centre and with support from the Oxford-led Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership, NUSI offered six undergraduate students the opportunity to gain research experience and exposure to social science methods training through course work and a mentored research experience. Students received mentorship from Oxford academics, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students.