Promoting Research

DPhil Studentship

• In October 2012 Contemporary Islamic Studies Oxford (CISO) funding board approved the establishment of a fully-funded 3-year (extending to a maximum of 4 years) graduate studentship
• Enables outstanding students to undertake doctorate research within the area of contemporary Islamic studies
• Funded by the His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Endowment Fund Programme for Islamic Studies, established at Oxford by a generous benefaction from His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
• Scholarship thesis topics so far:
  • 2012, 4 years, The Internal Conversation of Hamas: Salafism and the Rise of the Ulama
  • 2017, 4 years, Capitalism with Islamic Characteristics? The tracing of the construction of Islamic capitalism through a genealogy of the concepts of the market, private property, and social justice in 20th century Islamic thought
  • 2025, 4 years, Mecca on Thames: Transnational Islamic Activism in the United Kingdom, 1986-2003
• For academic year starting October 2026:
  • DPhil Asian & Middle Eastern Studies applications that fulfill the eligibility criteria and that are submitted by the January 2026 deadline will automatically be considered
  • DPhil applications should be submitted through the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
  • The proposed field of research should fall within any field of Contemporary Islamic Studies
  • Include Professor Raihan Ismail as the proposed supervisor on the DPhil application form

 Academic Visitors for Independent Research

• Contemporary Islamic Studies Oxford (CISO) welcomes visiting scholars and visiting graduate students for self-funded independent research projects connected with some aspect of the programme’s work:
  • Dr Liyana Kayali is a Visiting Academic at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
• Since the programme’s establishment, Contemporary Islamic Studies Oxford (CISO) has welcomed visiting academics from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, The Netherlands, Qatar, Turkey and the USA; and visiting graduate students from Belgium, France, Germany and Turkey.

Research Collaboration

In November 2025 Contemporary Islamic Studies Oxford (CISO) co-convened a 2-day academic research workshop on the theme of Pahang and the Sea, Maritime Networks and Connections between Southeast Asia and Beyond. Partnering with Muzium Pahang, Malaysia. The workshop featured maritime scholars and researchers working on Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and China. We would like to acknowledge the support of Her Majesty Queen Azizah of Pahang, the Malaysian High Commission, Kulturalis and Dr Rowena Abdul Razak from Timur Consulting. Edited recordings of some of the presentations of this workshop are available through our Contemporary Islamic Studies | University of Oxford Podcasts

In April 2025 Contemporary Islamic Studies Oxford (CISO) co-convened a 2-day academic research exchange workshop on the theme of Continuity and Change in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Partners included Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Peking University, Fudan University and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. The workshop examined the current state of Islamic Studies and research on the MENA region. Participants included a delegation of 10 academics from the University of Oxford including invited representatives from the:

• Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
• Middle East Centre
• Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
• Oxford School of Global and Area Studies
• School of Geography and the Environment

Contemporary Islamic Studies Oxford (CISO) has worked with St Antony’s College to provide the operational management and venue facilities for some of the research seminars that are a unique key component of the Research Centre for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE), part of the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and the College of Islamic Studies (CIS), Doha, Qatar. During these 3-day workshops, scholars of Islamic religious texts and expert practitioners explore contemporary challenges in specific subject fields:

• Islamic Ethics and Gender; including a lively public panel discussion focusing on Women and Men in Religious and Ethical Thought: Towards an Alternative Approach in light of contemporary realities
• Islamic Ethics and Education
• Islamic Ethics and Art including a public panel discussion on The Ethical Limits of Artistic Expression? An Islamic Perspective exploring the relationship between ethics religion and art and discuss whether Islamic ethics hinders artistic expression