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.

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

53 Fellows

DRRL Visiting Fellowship

23 Fellows

PhD Bursary

4 Fellows

Thoits Visiting Fellowship

1 Fellow

Lendrum Book Visiting Fellowship

2 Fellows

Sasakawa Visiting Fellowship

0 Fellows

Lord Crewe Visiting Fellowship

1 Fellow

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

I am very grateful for the opportunity this fellowship has afforded me to focus on the rich materials available at Palace Green Library. Durham has been a wonderful place to work, and the fellowship scheme is very welcoming and helps you connect with other fellows while giving you plenty of time to get your work done. I have been able to work with materials I couldn’t have found anywhere else and would encourage others to look into what’s available in the amazing collections here.

Joanne Myers

Barker Visiting Fellowship (Gettysburg College, USA)

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)

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)

My DRRL Visiting Fellowship allowed me the time and scope – and, crucially, the financial support – I required in order to initiate a new research project on English northern cathedral communities in the eighteenth century. At every stage of my Fellowship, I had prompt organisational support and tie-ins with other resident Fellows and permanent members of the History and Theology Departments. No less supportive were the staff at Ushaw College and the opportunity for membership of St Chad ‘s College SCR added a much-valued additional dimension of academic collegiality. Above all, it was the helpfulness of library staff in...

Nigel Aston

DRRL Visiting Fellowship (University of Leicester, England)

“I am an historian of medieval philosophy who was awarded a Lord Crewe Fellowship to work on the topic of theology as a science in Durand of St. Pourçain’s commentary on the Sentences. The subject seems obscure, but it is of great historical importance because it was out of debates over whether theology counts as an Aristotelian demonstrative science that developments in epistemology and cognitive psychology took place in the fourteenth century that would lay the foundations for the modern scientific method. The volume on which I was working is housed in the Bamburgh Rare Books Library at Durham, which...

Peter Eardley

Lord Crewe Visiting Fellowship (University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada)

My experience in Durham as the holder of a Barker Visiting Fellowship was stunning. As an historian of the long (perhaps too long?) 18th century, spending a month exploring the vast personal archives of the 2nd and 3rd Earl Grey and of the 1st Earl of Durham was a splendid opportunity. I am currently working on the Duke of Wellington as interim Prime Minister after the dismissal of Melbourne’s government in 1834: my research will benefit largely from my work on the Grey and Lambton papers. The staff at the Special Collections was wonderful: always ready to go the extra...

Ugo Bruschi

Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of Bologna, Italy)

My month in Durham was spent researching the papers of Charles Grey, the second Earl Grey as prime minister from 1830 to 1834 at Durham University Library. The Grey papers were particularly useful in my exploration of a north-south frontier during the Irish tithe war of 1830 to 1834 and electoral politics in the reform period by analysing Grey’s correspondence with his two Irish lord lieutenants, the marquess of Anglesey and Marquess Wellesley, their chief secretaries, Edward Stanley and Edward Littleton, and the home secretary Viscount Melbourne. My month in Durham was also a very valuable networking opportunity with the...

Patrick Duffy

Holland Visiting Fellowship (Trinity College, Dublin, Irish)

I am incredibly grateful for the Barkers Fellowship and the generous support they have provided through their funding of the Visiting Fellowship. Their generosity has had a profound impact on my professional development and research endeavors. The Fellowship has not only provided me with financial assistance but also invaluable opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange. Through the Barkers Fellowship, I have been able to engage with leading experts in my field and broaden my intellectual horizons. Moreover, the Barkers Fellowship has fostered a sense of community and connection among scholars. It has facilitated networking opportunities and created a platform for...

Raad Khair Allah

Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of Warwick, England)

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 time in Durham as a researcher under the Research Fellowship scheme was both congenial and very fruitful. It provided me with access to significant and essential materials that facilitated my project in transformative ways. The library and archives staff were exemplary in their welcome and generous assistance. Living in Durham for one month was also a most pleasant experience. My thanks to all who support the scheme and I commend it to any who are considering making an application.

Rev Dr Robert Fennell

Barker Visiting Fellowship (Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)

Named fellowships