Established in Oxbridge’s finest intellectual traditions by distinguished academics based in both universities, the Pharos Foundation is an independent research institution and educational charity devoted to a renaissance of the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Like its namesake, the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria, Pharos is a beacon for the serious study of serious issues and timeless questions in society, culture, and politics. Rising above partisanship and ideology, the Foundation is a home for the truest principles of humane learning, answering a dire need in contemporary intellectual life.

The Pharos Foundation supports intellectuals, artists, and innovators, both inside and outside the universities. Our Marshall Research Fellowship programme – the most attractive scheme of its kind in the UK – funds outstanding young academics to pursue research in relevant, understudied, and heterodox fields. Our generous Pharos Grants programme supports scholars, artists, and innovators at every stage of their careers, freeing them from bureaucratic constraints and accelerating important projects.

Since 2023, the Pharos Lectures have drawn capacity crowds to Oxford’s historic Sheldonian Theatre. Our landmark series of public lectures provides a platform for the world’s greatest intellectuals, entrepreneurs, artists, and statesmen to address the greatest issues of our time. Pharos also hosts regular Salons and is home to a growing library of Pharos Studies: short courses of lectures and study materials given by leading academics and practitioners.

The intellectual climate is deteriorating everywhere. Pharos is a beacon for a renaissance in intellectual life, in the UK and beyond: studying timeless questions; promoting humane learning; seeking truth in a spirit of intellectual curiosity, scholarly integrity, and generous collegiality.