The effect of the addition of niobium oxide (NbO 2 ) on the critical current density of large, single grain bulk YBCO superconductors fabricated by top seeded melt growth (TSMG) has been investigated. The high field critical current density, , of NbO 2 doped YBCO is improved significantly even though in the low field region is generally lower than in undoped samples. Under these conditions, when field is applied parallel to the -axisis enhanced by more than an order of magnitude at 4 T at 77 K to 2 10 3 A cm 2 for the NbO 2 containing sample.This enhancement in is accompanied by a large increase in irreversibility field, irr , from 4 T for the undoped sample to over 6 T. Enhanced flux pinning at high field is due to the formation of a nano-scale Nb-rich phase during high temperature sintering, melting and solidification of the bulk superconductor.Index Terms-Bulk YBCO, critical current density, melt textured superconductor, oxide particle doping.