Welcome to Research at Margaret Beaufort! Our thriving global research community is committed to responding theologically to the most challenging questions for the Church and the World. Ours is an “outgoing” and “transdisciplinary” approach, in the words of Pope Francis, reading and interpreting the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the contexts and conditions of people’s daily lives (Ad Theologiam Promovendam, 3, 5).

Our theological transdisciplinarity embraces the sciences, humanities, psychology and the arts both theoretically and practically, “as the placement and fermentation of all knowledge within the space of Light and Life offered by the Wisdom that emanates from God’s Revelation” (Veritatis Gaudium, Proem 4c).

The relevance of our research is ensured by the diversity of our research community: it includes front-line workers in pastoral care (lay, ordained and members of religious communities), in education and medicine as well as full-time and emeritus academics.

We take a “whole Church” approach: we welcome people and questions from every group, movement and opinion within the Church – we don’t do “labels”. Instead, an approach of synodal deep listening enables us to approach urgent and difficult topics in a dialogical way. Two examples: the question of women’s access to the diaconate, for which the Synod on Mission has called for a continuation of research, and reconciliation in the tension over Old and New forms of the Roman liturgy. Being dialogical, we are therefore also ecumenically “outgoing” from a strong Catholic centre: we welcome researchers from other Churches to our community and our seminars.

As a Catholic academic community we live the mystery of the Church together by studying, learning, praying and teaching each other, aiming to produce research of academic and pastoral excellence. We meet for five research seminars (hybrid in person and online) per year, and with the rest of the Cambridge Theological Federation for the annual research conference, as well as for other occasional conferences and seminars arranged by our researchers, some in collaboration with our ecumenical partners. We also celebrate Mass together once per term, and have other times of prayer, reflection and community celebration.

Want to join us? Invitations for applications to become a research associate are usually issued every summer, but you are welcome to get in touch any time (contact to info@mbit.cam.ac.uk) We normally expect a PhD in theology or relevant subject.