Sheikh Zayed Endowment Fund for Islamic Studies

Subject Area: Islamic Studies
Chair: Faculty board chair - faculty.board.chair@orinst.ox.ac.uk
Administrator: Trust funds administrator - trustfunds@orinst.ox.ac.uk

Previous Awards:

• Scholarships Grants 
• Funding of an Associate Professorship
• Fully-funded Graduate Research Studentship for up to three years, to be held in either Oriental Studies or Theology

Regulation

§ 322. Sheikh Zayed Endowment Fund for Islamic Studies

[Made by the General Purposes Committee of Council on 22 June 2007]

1. The benefaction from the Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation which comprises £1,500,000, together with any further donations for this purpose, shall be used to establish a fund, to be known as the Shaikh Zayed Endowment Fund for Islamic Studies (‘the Fund’).

2. The University shall retain all of the Fund as permanent endowment and shall apply the net income of the Fund for the advancement of Islamic Studies within the University.

3. The first charge on the net income of the fund shall be the salary and associated costs of a University Lecturership in Islamic Studies, which shall be known as the Shaikh Zayed Lecturership in Islamic Studies (‘the lecturership’). Other charges on the fund shall be the provision, under such arrangements as the Faculty Board may from time to time determine, of support for the advancement of Islamic Studies.

4. The administration of the Fund, and the application of its income, shall be the responsibility of the Faculty Board of Oriental Studies.

5. Any income unspent in any year on the first charge as defined in regulation 3 above, whether in consequence of a vacancy in the lecturership or for any other reason, shall, at the discretion of the board of management, either be carried forward for expenditure in subsequent years or be spent in any other way or ways conducive to the advancement within the University of teaching, scholarship, and research in Islamic Studies.

6. These regulations may be amended by Council provided the object as specified in regulation 3 is kept in view.

Standing Order

Sheikh Zayed Endowment Fund for Islamic Studies

The management committee shall consist of the Vice-Chancellor or his or her deputy, the Head of the Humanities Division or his or her Deputy, the Chair of the Faculty Board of Theology or his or her Deputy, the chair of the Faculty Board of Oriental Studies or his or her Deputy, and two representatives from the Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation. The chair of the committee shall be the Vice-Chancellor (or his or her Deputy) and the secretary shall be the Registrar of the University (or his or her Deputy).

The duties of the committee shall be to administer the fund in accordance with the Statute published in the Gazette on 22 June 2007, pp. 1310-1311, the net income of which shall be used towards the salary and associated costs of the Shaikh Zayed Lecturership in Islamic Studies. Any income unspent in any year may, at the discretion of the board of management, either be carried forward for expenditure in subsequent years or be spent in any other way or ways conducive to the advancement within the University of teaching, scholarship, and research in Islamic Studies. The committee shall be empowered to make grants up to £600, provided that such grants are reported to the next meeting of the board. For grants over £600 the committee shall submit recommendations for the board’s approval.

Committee Members

• Professor Anna Sapir Abulafia
• Faculty Board Chair
• Professor Graham Ward
• HE UAE Ambassador to the UK
• Dr Afifi al-Akiti