Nuffield College

15/06/2026

Congratulations to Zachary Parolin, Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College, on receiving two major international early-career honours for his contributions to the understanding of poverty, inequality and social mobility.

Zachary has been awarded the 2026 William Julius Wilson Early Career Award from the American Sociological Association's Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility Section and received an Honorable Mention for the 2026 Henrik Enderlein Prize, which recognises outstanding European researchers under the age of 40.

Zachary's research has shaped debates on poverty measurement, intergenerational mobility, labour market inequality, and welfare state reform across Europe and the United States. It has informed the European Commission’s Anti-Poverty Strategy and Minimum Wage Directive, as well as major policy discussions in the United States, including the expansion of child benefits.

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/y54uyhyk

11/06/2026

Giving Day is coming up at Nuffield College on 17 and 18 June! Find out more at https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-events/news/support-students-nuff-said/

We’d love to get as many of the Nuffield community as possible involved. You can help us spread the Nuffield spirit by
📷️ posting your Nuffield photos and memories from around the world using
🎁 making a gift at https://nuffieldcollege.givingday.co.uk/
🎖️ taking part in one of our challenges, which will be shared here

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates on Giving Day from the Alumni Relations & Development team

09/06/2026

Installed as part of the recent refurbishment of Nuffield College's Fellows' Garden and Cox Room, Edmund de Waal's new artworks invite moments of reflection within the College's shared spaces.

'Wind, Water, Stone' sits at the heart of the Fellows' Garden, accompanied by a marble bench donated by the artist. In the Cox Room, 'For Those Who Live In Cities' offers a quieter point of contemplation through its porcelain vessels.

As the artist Edmund de Waal reflects:

"The title of this work comes from a beautiful poem by Octavio Paz about the connectedness of the elemental wind, water and stone. The silver inclusion in the nearby bench is about protection, it is a kind of prayer, written, folded and folded again. Read the poem so expertly carved by Gary Breeze and pause for a while. There is no hurry."

We are grateful to former college Art Fellow Richard Mayou, whose generous support made the acquisition possible, and to Edmund de Waal for these thoughtful additions to the College.

Read more about the artworks: https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-events/news/new-artwork-unveiled-at-nuffield-college/

08/06/2026

Congratulations to Martin Wolf CBE (MPhil Economics, 1969), Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College, who has been honoured by two leading European institutions.

Martin, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, has received the European Integration Prize from the Cercle d’Economia and will also receive the Global Economy Prize from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Warm congratulations to Martin on these distinguished and well-deserved honours.

Read more: https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-events/news/honorary-fellow-awarded-by-the-cercle-d-economia-and-the-kiel-institute/

22/05/2026

On Monday, we welcomed artist and writer Edmund de Waal for a celebratory lunch to mark the installation of his new works, and to recognise former Art Fellow Richard Mayou’s generous donation towards the acquisition of this new art for the College.

Guests heard reflections from Edmund de Waal on themes of 'pausing', space, and contemplation within the works, and why they felt especially resonant for Nuffield.

The Warden, Julia Black, pictured, and current Art Fellow, Andy Thompson, also spoke during the event.

Thank you to Edmund de Waal and Richard Mayou - pictured below, taking a moment to 'pause' on the marble bench also donated by the artist for the Fellows’ Garden - for an inspiring afternoon of conversation, art, and generosity.

18/05/2026

What makes us feel connected to the places and people around us?

Researchers at the University of Oxford and Nuffield College are launching The National Conversation, a major new UK-wide initiative that will explore social cohesion, trust, belonging, and identity across Britain.

Led by researchers at Oxford Population Health’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and Nuffield College, the project will invite people across the country to share their experiences of community life and their hopes for the future.

Launching publicly on 18 May 2026, the initiative aims to build one of the most detailed long-term pictures of how people across the UK feel about community and cohesion today.

Read more: https://buff.ly/HTZEDFU

14/05/2026

📺 Watch Professorial Fellow Jane Green commenting on the King's Speech yesterday for ITV News' special programme at https://bit.ly/4dnfBEG

DPIR's Professor of Political Science and British Politics, Jane Green joins ITV News to discuss the King's Speech and the Prime Minister's future in a special programme broadcast today: https://www.itv.com/watch/the-kings-speech/10a6156a0001B/10a6156a0001

11/05/2026

Last month, Ian Jewitt, Senior Research Fellow, and Andy Thompson, Professorial Fellow, brought together a group of economists from Oxford and beyond, with several members of the Global Commission of Modern Slavery, for a one-day workshop in Nuffield College.

Former Prime minister, Baroness Theresa May, opened the workshop, and papers were then presented on a range of topics including labour markets, international migration, criminality, satellite technology, artificial intelligence, and the history and contemporary state of anti-trafficking legislation.

This workshop aimed to connect a community of economists who are interested in working on what is arguably the world’s biggest human rights violation — approximately 50 million people in a state of modern slavery — and what might be done to better target the responses of national governments and international organisations to reducing vulnerabilities to this crime and rescuing those who fall prey to it.

08/05/2026

Nuffield College joins forces with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to study the impact of donor cuts.

On 18 March 2026, Nuffield Professorial Fellow Andrew Thompson met with UNHCR’s UK Representative, Vicky Tennant, to sign an agreement launching a joint project examining how donor funding cuts may affect refugees’ vulnerability to human trafficking, exploitation, and modern slavery.

Working closely with UNHCR colleagues, Nuffield researchers Cesare Vagge and Marly Tiburcio-Carneiro will produce case studies focused on refugee camps in Bangladesh and Ethiopia, mapping how reductions in key protection services could increase risks for displaced communities.

The collaboration builds on the Framework of Analysis on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking developed for the Global Commission on Modern Slavery, and marks an important step towards future partnership opportunities in the 75th anniversary year of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Read more about the project: https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-events/news/new-partnership-with-the-uns-high-commission-for-refugees/

07/05/2026

Many congrats to Nuffield DPhil students Chenchuan Shi and Max Marczinek for their nominations for European Central Bank's 2026 Young Economist Prize

More info about the nominated papers at the following links:
✍️ Max: https://economics.web.ox.ac.uk/article/max-marczinek-nominated-for-ecb-young-economist-prize
📑 Chenchuan: https://economics.web.ox.ac.uk/article/chenchuan-shi-nominated-for-ecb-young-economist-prize

The Department of Economics is delighted to congratulate Max Marczinek, who has been nominated for the European Central Bank’s 2026 Young Economist Prize for his paper, Labour Scarcity and Productivity: Insights from the Last Nordic Plague.