Arts graduate Max Harris has recently been elected as an Examination Fellow (also known as a Prize Fellow) at All Souls College, Oxford.
Max graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies and History and a Bachelor of Laws, and recently completed his Masters of Public Policy at Oxford. As part of his studies Max interned with the UNDP Executive Office, the office attached to that of another Political Studies graduate – Helen Clark.
The University’s Dean of Law, Andrew Stockley, says that a prize fellowship at All Souls is one of the world’s most competitive and prestigious academic awards. “Max is an exceptional scholar- he was one of our best students at Auckland, was selected as a Judge’s Clerk for the Chief Justice, and he won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. He now has an incredible opportunity to pursue research in any field he wishes,” he says.
Prize fellows have seven years during which they are provided with accommodation, meals and living expenses at one of the most well-known Oxford colleges. All Souls College was founded in 1438 and its world-famous Codrington library, completed in 1751, has 185,000 holdings, about a third of which were published before 1800.
Up to two Prize Fellowships are awarded at All Souls each year and are competed for by some of the very best students across all disciplines and from around the world.
Described as ‘the hardest examination in the world’, selection is made after a competitive examination and interview process. There are two subject-specific examination papers and two general examination papers.
Four to six finalists are then invited to an oral examination at which between 50 to 60 All Souls Fellows interview the candidates.
There are about a dozen Prize Fellows at All Souls at any one time, and around 75 Fellows in total.
