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.

 

We also extend our  gratitude to Lord Crewe's Charity, the Great British Sasakawa Foundation and the Sino-British Fellowship Trust for their generous contributions.

Named fellowships

The Barker Visiting Fellowships are intended to support research into any of the collections held in Durham, while the Lendrum Priory Library Fellowships 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.

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.

We are pleased to include in this programme, 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.

This year, we are also delighted to announce the Sino-British Fellowship Trust Visiting Fellowships which are intended to support research into any of the collections, and are reserved specifically for those based at Chinese institutions. We welcome applications from both academic and practitioner researchers at all stages in their career

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

17 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

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)
The Durham Residential Research Library Fellowship offered a chance to work with the University’s wonderful collection of early books in a really supportive environment. Between the study spaces, the library and fellowship staff, and especially the cohort of fellows, the month in Durham didn’t just give space to think and write, but offered new connections and lasting friendships. The work I did there inspired new directions in my own research, and is now informing a larger project on the paratextual features of manuscripts and early printed books. This has been a real highlight in my academic career.
Jonathan Zecher
Barker Visiting Fellowship (Australian Catholic University, Australia)
“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)
I was most grateful to receive a Holland Visiting Fellowship in the Spring of 2020. The research facilities it offered were just what I needed, giving me space and time to work undistractedly on a long projected study of Bishop Christopher Butler, whose family papers are in Durham University Library’s Special Collections, and bring it to near completion. I am expecting the Weldon Press to publish the study in late Spring or Summer this year.
Peter Phillips
Holland Visiting Fellowship
My fellowship at Durham (Lendrum Priory Residential Research Library Fellowship) was transformative for my research as it enabled me to access the little-studied medieval collections of Ushaw College in situ and even discover a hitherto unknown original charter of King John (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-47698594)
Dr Benjamin Pohl
(University of Bristol, England)
My Durham Research Library Fellowship was a fantastic experience. I collaborated with Durham faculty and other visiting researchers, and made great headway on my research projects in early modern British and Catholic history. In the Ushaw College library, I was able to trace how English Catholics were interpreting and responding to the political and religious conflicts that rent the European continent in the late eighteenth century. I now have invaluable epistolary and other evidence of the English Catholic communities divisions during this exciting time in history.
Dr Shaun Blanchard
DRRL Visiting Fellowship (Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, USA)
The Durham Residential Library Fellowship provided crucial support for my research. I was able to benefit from the Library’s extensive rare books collections to advance my project. The Library staff were incredibly helpful and patiently answered my questions.
Luke Roman
Barker Visiting Fellowship (Memorial University Newfoundland, Canada)
The Durham Collections Fellowship offered me the opportunity to spend three weeks working on the most important archive on Sudan outside Sudan itself while enjoying a few lovely days in the county, which is a marvelous place to visit. Without this stay, I would never have been able to assemble the material that I now have, which will form the basis for a series of microhistories of the Greek diaspora in Sudan—hopefully a small book to be published in the coming years.
Alexandros Tsakos
Lendrum Book Visiting Fellowship (University of Bergen, Norway)
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)