What are the fellowships?

The Durham Collections Fellowships scheme is delighted to invite applications from researchers for Visiting Fellowships of one month in duration.

The aim of the Durham Collections Fellowships is to enable and foster research across the historic collections of Durham, notably Palace Green Library, the Museum of Archaeology, the Oriental Museum, the Library of Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens (formerly Ushaw College, the former Roman Catholic seminary just outside the City), and the medieval Priory Library and the archives and object collections of Durham Cathedral. The resources available to scholars include not only libraries and archives, but also collections of visual and material culture, and architectural assets. The purpose of the Visiting Fellowships is to support research into these globally significant collections.

Durham University would like to express our sincere thanks to Graham and Joanna Barker, Chris and Margaret Lendrum, and Peter and Tina Holland, for their generous support of fellowship schemes at Durham Collections Fellowships.

Named fellowships

The Barker Visiting Fellowships are intended to support research into any of the collections held in Durham and there are a number of Lendrum Priory Library Fellowships available
specifically to support work on the surviving contents of Durham Cathedral’s medieval priory library. This collection is currently the focus of a large-scale digitisation project, Durham
Priory Library Recreated www.durhampriory.ac.uk. 

The Lendrum Fellowships are intended to support research into any of the collections but there is a preference for applicants wishing to use the historic book collections of Durham. This is interpreted broadly to include consultation of individual books, study of specific collections, research into the material forms of books, histories of book circulation and collecting, plus consideration of the readers of books. We welcome applications from both academic and practitioner researchers at all stages in their career.

We are also delighted to announce the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Fellowship, which is to support applicants based in Japan to come to Durham to work on any of the collections.

The Lord Crewe’s Charity Fellowships are open to any applicant wishing to work on the Bamburgh Library Collection. The remit is wide, from those wishing to research it as a collection, to those planning to consult an individual item, and also includes the material culture of the books.

Fellows will be encouraged to work collaboratively with academic subject specialists, librarians, archivists and curators to realise the collections ‘ research potential, and to develop innovative research agendas. They will also be encouraged to participate in the life of the University, particularly its broad range of seminar series.

All Fellowships

Holland Visiting Fellowship

26 Fellows

Lendrum Priory Visiting Fellowship

16 Fellows

Barker Visiting Fellowship

56 Fellows

DRRL Visiting Fellowship

23 Fellows

PhD Bursary

4 Fellows

Thoits Visiting Fellowship

1 Fellow

Lendrum Book Visiting Fellowship

2 Fellows

Sasakawa Visiting Fellowship

1 Fellow

Lord Crewe Visiting Fellowship

1 Fellow

Other research fellowships

The Spanish Gallery Collection research fellowships

Two fellowships are available to undertake research into the collection of the Spanish Gallery in Bishop Auckland.

The fellowships are affiliated with the Zurbarán Centre and Durham Collections Fellowships. Generously funded by the Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica (CEEH), each fellowship includes a monthly stipend of £2,100. An allowance for research-related travel will be available on request. The fellows will be part of the University‘s research community and have privileged access to the Spanish Gallery.

Find out more information and apply

This Research Fellowship gave me the opportunity to immerse myself into the The Cremation Society Archives held at Palace Green Library. It was a special opportunity not only because I was able to study original material from the collection, but also because it was my first time I was back into a libary since the COVID pandemic. Only then I realised I much I missed seeing and feeling original documents but also connect with other scholars on the Fellowship programme.
Gian Luca Amadei
Barker Visiting Fellowship (Royal College of Art, Italy)
During my Fellowship (4-28 July 2022) I carried out a research on the VIth century Gallic bishop Sidonius Apollinaris – a key figure in Late Antiquity, also in the light of the new great interest in his works and within the International project SAxii – Sidonius Apollinaris for the XXIst century (www.sidonapol.org) –, having the chance to consult, right through the original documents, some of the first modern commentaries on him, available at Durham historic collections, at Palace Green Library and at Ushaw College: the XVI-XVIIth century editions by Jean Savaron (magistrate and humanist) and by Jacques Sirmond (Jesuit scholar)....
Filomena Giannotti
Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of Sienna, Italy)
I would like to express my profound gratitude to the Barkers fellowship, to all the friendly and helpful librarians at the Palace Green, Bill Bryson and Ushaw libraries, to Professors James Kelly and Bennett Zon and to Barbara Jackson for the wonderful and inspiring research stay in Durham. Reading the 19th century letters and rare books has enabled me to gain a clearer picture of the intricacies of the history, culture and politics in Central Asia. The talks my fellow researchers gave at IAS and subsequent discussions were very inspiring for my work. It was a great opportunity to network...
Maria Rybakova
Barker Visiting Fellowship (Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan)
I express my gratitude to Durham University for offering me the Residential Research Library fellowship. My experience at Durham was very enriching. Along with the great academic exposure, I got the chance to explore the rich cultural heritage of a beautiful Romanesque city. It is substantially important to mention that the visiting fellows are given access to all the resources. From navigating through the rich archives and rare collections to exploring the latest research in the Bill Bryson library, everything was hassle-free. The functionaries at all the places are very welcoming. Overall, my stay at Durham has been very fruitful...
Veenat Arora
Barker Visiting Fellowship (Panjab University, India)
A productive month of research in historic Durham in a collegial environment with scholars whose work informs your own – it doesn’t get better than that!
Carmen Mangion
Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of London, England)
The Barker Visiting Fellowship was an extraordinary human and professional opportunity for at least three reasons. Firstly, the fellowship allowed me to profitably pursue my studies on Benedictine figurative culture between the 16th and 19th centuries. More specifically, the collections of the Palace Green Library, the documents preserved at Ushaw College and the paintings kept in the castle (especially those from the 17th and 18th centuries) were very relevant in this regard. Secondly, my stay in Durham offered me the opportunity to closely examine the conspicuous artistic heritage housed in the county's museum network, giving me the chance to make...
Mauro Vincenzo Fontana
Barker Visiting Fellowship (Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy)
It is difficult to overstate just how transformative my experience as a Fellow was: the unfettered, in situ access to Durham's rare book and archive collections, particularly those relatively untapped at Ushaw College, offered a research opportunity that I may never have again. The incredible productivity that ensued, in which I both collaborated and wrote far more than I had promised, is testament to the inspiring and encouraging environment that these Fellowships foster.
Leah Tether
Holland Visiting Fellowship (University of Bristol, England)
I was successful in obtaining a Barker Fellowship which allowed me to spend a month researching in the fantastic libraries attached to Durham University. A wonderful month of not just intense research but also I was made very welcome by staff and students and was able take full part in university life. A very rewarding experience.
Professor Jack Cunningham
Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of Lincoln, United Kingdom)
Barbara Jones Denison is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Shippensburg University, where she was the director of the interdisciplinary Organizational Development and Leadership graduate program, department chair of Sociology and Anthropology, and director of the undergraduate online degree completion program. With a 1985 PhD in sociology from Northwestern University, Denison has worked professionally within sociology as well as a number of interdisciplinary contexts. She recently published “Giving Up the Good for the Better: Dorothy Day’s Ethic of Direct Action” in A Research Agenda for Organizational Ethics (2023). Having been active in a number of international, national, and regional sociology and...
Barbara Denison
Barker Visiting Fellowship (Shippensburg University, USA)
My fellowship was a great experience and the working conditions were ideal. I was allotted a host college and made welcome everywhere. As well as working productively in the archives I met an expert on the material I was using, and attended seminars and events. Durham is the perfect thinking environment, and has the cafés to complement it - highly recommended.
Robert Poole
Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom)