Welcome to Durham Collections Fellowships
The Call for Applications for the academic year 2026/27 is now closed, applications for the next academic year will open early 2027.
Apply for a CERES International Visiting Fellowship
The Durham Centre for Classics Education Research and EngagementS (CERES) brings together interdisciplinary research focused on how classical languages and ancient civilisations are taught and learned. Working across education from primary and secondary schools through to higher and adult/community education, CERES provides a distinctive space for research, collaboration and engagement in Classics education. CERES acts as a forum for knowledge exchange between academic research and charities, subject associations, journalists, policymakers, creative practitioners and teachers.
CERES is delighted to invite applications for its new International Visiting Fellowship Scheme. We are offering two International Visiting Fellowships, each of 2–4 weeks' duration, to be undertaken as one continuous period between October 2027 and July 2028.
The theme for this first round is the teaching and learning of Ancient Greek language in schools and communities. Applicants will have expertise in teaching Ancient Greek language using innovative methods, and/or widening access to Ancient Greek language beyond traditional education settings.
The Fellowship strives to foster collaboration between researchers, teachers, community organisations, cultural institutions and policymakers. Through this work, CERES seeks to advance understanding of how Ancient Greek can contribute to educational opportunity, linguistic knowledge, cultural literacy and public engagement in the twenty-first century.
What are the Durham Collections Fellowships?
The aim of the Durham Collections Fellowships is to enable and foster research across the three historic collections of Durham — those held by Durham University, Durham Cathedral and Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, all of which have internationally significant collections of books and other materials that deserve to be brought to a wider scholarly and public audience.
In addition to libraries this includes archives, collections of visual and material culture, and architectural assets.
Together these collections contain:
- 450 medieval manuscripts books
- over 130,000 rare and early printed books
- around 6,000 meters/shelves of archives
- 107,000 museum objects and works of art
- Over 40,000 archaeological artefacts
- 9,000 bio-science specimens
Visiting Fellowships
The purpose of the Visiting Fellowships is to support research into these globally significant collections.
By bringing together these three collections, the Durham Collections Fellowships intend to foster research on material held at Durham, to create an international fellowship of scholars whose research interests have brought them to us, and to showcase the collections to a wider audience.
Our past fellows
Since 2018 the Durham Collections Fellowships has shared its collections with a global scholarly audience through its fellowships
Dr Abdul Azeem
Holland Visiting Fellowship
Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Pakistan, Pakistan
Barbara Denison
Barker Visiting Fellowship
Shippensburg University, USA
Matt Binasco
Holland Visiting Fellowship
Università per Stranieri di Siena, Italy
Elizabeth Gemmill
Lendrum Priory Visiting Fellowship
University of Oxford, England
Carmen Mangion
Barker Visiting Fellowship
University of London, England
Eilish Gregory
Holland Visiting Fellowship
Durham University, England
Shanti Graheli
Holland Visiting Fellowship
University of Glasgow, Scotland
Luke Roman
Barker Visiting Fellowship
Memorial University Newfoundland, Canada
Raad Khair Allah
Barker Visiting Fellowship
University of Warwick, England
Professor Christian Hesse
Lendrum Priory Visiting Fellowship
University of Bern, Switzerland
Dr Syed Ashraf
Barker Visiting Fellowship
Department of Delhi Archives, New Dehli
Dr Helen Kilburn
DRRL Visiting Fellowship
University of Manchester, England
DrBenjamin Pohl
University of Bristol, England
Professor Jack Cunningham
Barker Visiting Fellowship
University of Lincoln, United Kingdom
Margaret Douglas
Holland Visiting Fellowship
Luca Fois
Barker Visiting Fellowship
Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy
Lu Jiang
Sino British Fellowship
Sun Yat-sen University , China
Rosemary Mitchell
Holland Visiting Fellowship
Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies, England
DrKarly Kehoe
Holland Visiting Fellowship
St Mary ‘s University, Canada
Matt Binasco
Holland Visiting Fellowship
Università per Stranieri di Siena, Italy
Research
Through the Durham Collections Fellowship's prestigious fellowships program, scholars have the opportunity to undertake ambitious research projects.
DCF takes pride in fostering this environment, where expert researchers are given the resources and time to delve deeply into complex topics and share their findings with the world. Whether through conferences, lectures, publications, or informal discussions in historic halls, DCF is a hub of world-class research and engagement.
Centuries of History
The Durham Collections Fellowships draw on the historic collections of three venerable Durham institutions—Durham Cathedral, Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, and Durham University—each with a rich history spanning many centuries.
Durham Cathedral, with manuscripts dating back to the 6th century; Ushaw House and Chapels holding over 40,000 rare printed works accumulated since the 16th century; Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens holding over 40,000 rare printed works accumulated since the 16th century; Durham University’s Palace Green Library which includes Cosin's Library, founded in the 17th century as the first public lending library in the Northeast and which served as the university’s main library for 150 years before transitioning to special collections in the 1980s. Together these collections offer rich resources for research spanning many centuries.
