Nuffield Benefactions

[1]

Nuffield Benefaction for the Advancement of Medicine

1. (1) For the purposes of the trust created by the Deed of Covenant and Trust executed by Lord Nuffield on 24 November 1936 there shall be a body of trustees, and this body shall be composed as follows:

(a) as Chairman, a person who shall be appointed on the occurrence of each vacancy by the Chancellor of the University, except that the Chancellor shall at his or her sole discretion have the right from time to time to revoke any such appointment;

(b) the Vice-Chancellor or a person appointed by the Vice-Chancellor for a renewable period of two years;

(c)–(e) three persons appointed by the Chancellor of the University;

(f) the Regius Professor of Medicine or, whenever he or she is a trustee in another capacity, a person appointed by the Medical Sciences Board;

(g), (h) two persons appointed by Council on the recommendation of its General Purposes Committee after consultation with the Medical Sciences Board;

(i), (j) two persons appointed by Council on the recommendation of its General Purposes Committee after consultation with the Chairmen of the NHS Trusts in the City of Oxford which are concerned with teaching and research and which include a university-nominated non-executive director on their Trust Boards, and with the Chairman of the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority.

(2) If all, or any, of the bodies specified in sub-clause (1) (i), (j) above are reconstituted or abolished, Council shall have power to decide which successor body or bodies associated with teaching and research within the Medical School of the University of Oxford shall be consulted.

(3) The following restrictions shall apply to the appointment of trustees and the retention by trustees of their office as trustee:

(a) No person appointed or being a trustee (except a trustee appointed under subclause (1) (a)–(e) above or the Regius Professor of Medicine) may also be a member of the Nuffield Benefaction Committee established under clause 4 below; if any member of that committee is appointed or becomes a trustee (otherwise than under sub-clause (1) (a)–(e) above or as the Regius Professor of Medicine), his or her appointment as a trustee shall be inoperative; and if any trustee (other than one appointed under sub-clause (1) (a)–(e) above or the Regius Professor of Medicine) becomes a member of that committee, he or she shall immediately cease to be a trustee.

(b) No person shall become or remain a trustee after reaching the age of 70 years, unless Council’s General Purposes Committee has determined otherwise in an individual case.

(c) With the exception of any appointment made under (1)(b) above, appointed trustees shall serve for an initial period of seven years, and shall then be eligible for reappointment for further periods of five years at a time, subject in both cases to the age limit laid down by (b) above.

(d) The person or body appointing any trustee other than the Chairman shall have the power at any time to revoke the appointment of that trustee if the trustee becomes of unsound mind or goes to reside abroad or otherwise becomes incapable of satisfactorily carrying out his or her duties as trustee.

(e) Any trustee who desires to retire from his or her trusteeship may do so on giving to the University and to the person or body appointing him or her two months’ notice in writing of that desire.

2. The trustees shall have full power:

(1) to determine in their sole discretion from time to time whether any object proposed to be financed out of the income or capital of the trust fund is inconsistent with the terms of the deed referred to in clause 1 (1) above;

(2) to appoint their own secretary;

(3) to make rules or by-laws as to their meetings (including what is to be the quorum for meetings) and from time to time to alter those rules or by-laws.

3. The duties of the trustees shall be:

(1) to receive and consider an annual statement of the objects proposed to be financed out of the trust fund in which shall be included an annual estimate of the income and expenditure of the trust fund; to determine whether any of the objects proposed to be financed out of the trust fund are inconsistent with the terms of the trust, and if so to notify in writing the body submitting the statement of that inconsistency, or if not to pass the annual statement and estimate;

(2) to receive annual accounts of the income of the trust fund and the expenditure defrayed from it and of any capital subject to the trust, together with an annual report on the work carried out under the trust; and to report to the University on the accounts and the annual report.

4. (1) There shall be a Nuffield Benefaction Committee composed as follows:

(a) the Vice-Chancellor;

(b) the Regius Professor of Medicine;

(c)–(g) the Nuffield Professors of Clinical Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Anaesthetics, and Orthopaedic Surgery;

(h), (i) two persons, not being Nuffield Professors, who are members of the Faculty of Clinical Medicine and who shall be appointed by the Medical Sciences Board;

(j) the Director of Clinical Studies;

(k) the Director of Postgraduate Medical Education and Training;

(l), (m) two persons appointed by the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority (or, if the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority ceases to exist, the relevant successor body) in consultation with the bodies responsible for the management of the teaching hospitals in Oxford.

(2) The committee shall have power to co-opt not more than two persons as additional members for periods of two years at a time.

5. (1) The duties of the committee shall be:

(a) having satisfied the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Chest that the estimated expenditure is not in excess of the estimated income, to prepare and to submit to the trustees before the end of each Trinity Term an annual statement of the objects proposed to be financed out of the trust fund, in which shall be included an annual estimate of the income of the trust fund and of the cost of carrying the scheme into effect;

(b) to prepare an annual report and annual accounts and to submit them to the trustees.

(2) The committee may act notwithstanding any vacancy or vacancies in its membership.

6. The Secretary of the Medical Sciences Board shall act as secretary of the committee.

7. The Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Chest shall, on the requisition of the committee or in accordance with the provisions of this decree, as the case may be, make payments out of the income of the trust fund in accordance with the estimates prepared by the committee and passed by the trustees, except that capital expenditure may be met out of the capital of the trust fund if provisions for its repayment out of the income of the trust fund is made to the satisfaction of the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Chest.

8. Any of the clauses of this decree may be modified by a further decree, and this decree or any further decree may be modified and/or replaced in whole or in part by a statute, if in the case of a modification the trustees have first certified in writing to the Vice-Chancellor that the proposed modification is not inconsistent with the terms of the deed referred to in clause 1 (1) above.

[2]

Oxford Nuffield Medical Fellowships

1. The authority and duties of the university as set out in the Scheme contained in the Deed of Trust, executed by Viscount Nuffield on 20 May 1938, as varied by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales by schemes dated 14 July 1980 and 6 March 1998 and 13 May 2022 and any subsequent scheme, to promote the progress of medical knowledge by co-operation between the Medical School of the university, and such of the universities in the Commonwealth as provide facilities for medical research, shall, unless provided otherwise, be exercised by Council.

The Fellowships Scheme

2. The university shall, subject to the necessary funding being provided by the Administrative Trustees (“the Trustees”), establish Fellowships tenable within any department of the Medical Sciences Division. The Fellowships shall be known as Oxford Nuffield Medical Fellowships.

3. The Fellowships shall be open to researchers of any nationality based in any country, including employees of the university of Oxford and other UK-based institutions. eligible applicants must have completed a doctoral degree (or equivalent), have significant research experience, and be transitioning or have recently transitioned to full research independence.

4. Applicants shall be required to present a proposal for research that:

(1) aims to progress medical knowledge through outcomes that are expected to benefit human physical or mental health; and

(2) develops a new connection, or utilises an existing connection, with a university based in a Commonwealth member country outside the UK. The connection must be integral to the proposed research.

5. A holder of a Fellowship shall be an employee of the university appointed on such terms and under such conditions as the university shall determine.

6. There shall be a university selection panel whose membership shall include 2 of the Trustees. The panel shall report to the Trustees.

7. The Trustees shall from time to time, having considered a report by the panel, determine: (1) the number of Fellowships to be awarded; and (2) for each Fellowship, its duration, the total funding to be made available and the types of costs to which that funding may be applied.

8. The Trustees shall direct payment of such other sums as they may from time to time determine to the university, to be applied to meeting eligible costs associated with the Fellowships.