Visiting Research Fellowship
Senate House Library (in partnership with the Friends of Senate House Library) invites applications for a Visiting Research Fellowship.
Visiting Research Fellowship Scheme
Senate House Library (in partnership with the Friends of Senate House Library) invites applications for up to two Visiting Research Fellowships to make use of the Library’s world-class collections.
The following awards are available in 2025-26:
- Up to TWO awards of £1500 to support a fellowship of up to 2 weeks.
As well as 50 named special collections and over 1,800 collections of archives and manuscripts, from the Middle Ages to present day, Senate House Library provides access to over a million printed items, in addition to a nationally significant collection of print and electronic journals and a growing range of e-resources and e-books, thus making it one of the foremost research libraries for the study of the arts, humanities and social sciences.
The Library is also a prime cultural destination in the heart of London, offering an innovative and exciting programme of exhibitions and events to a wide range of audiences.
Senate House Library’s collections are particularly strong in the areas outlined below. Applicants are strongly encouraged to refer to one or more of these collecting and subject strengths in their application to ensure their project is aligned with the Library’s research priorities.
- Book Studies
- Commonwealth Studies
- Digital Humanities
- English Literature
- Environmental Humanities
- Exile, Migration and Cultural Memory
- French, Francophone, Spanish, Portuguese, Lusophone, and Italian
Germanic - History
- Latin American Studies
- Magic and the Paranormal
- Manuscript Studies and Palaeography
- United States Studies
The Fellowship will give applicants from outside of the University of London the opportunity to undertake uninterrupted research on Senate House Library’s collections for a period of up to two weeks.
Further details and how to apply
- Applicants must be external to the University of London.
- Applicants can be at any stage of their academic career but should normally hold a PhD or equivalent qualification at the time of application.
- International applicants are reminded that if they require a visa in order to take up the Fellowship in the UK, it is their responsibility to secure the appropriate UK visa. If you think you require a UK visa please check the UK’s Government’s website for more information. Award of the Fellowship will be conditional on fulfilling this requirement.
- Fellowships are awarded for projects relating to Senate House Library collections.
- The maximum value of each fellowship is £1,500.
- The maximum term of each fellowship is two weeks.
- Funds are awarded to cover allowable expenses such as travel, accommodation and subsistence, and other reasonable research expenses.
- Fellows will receive free membership of Senate House Library for a period of up to two weeks, and free use of a private study carrel on the 4th floor of the Library.
- Fellows will be expected to be present regularly in the Library throughout the period of the Fellowship, and to participate in Library life through attendance at workshops, events, special lectures where appropriate.
- Access to Senate House Library collections and other user services will be provided according to Library regulations.
- Fellows make their own arrangements for travel and accommodation but information about reasonably priced accommodation can be found on the University of London webpages.
- Depending on the Fellow’s UK tax status, award funds may be subject to UK tax and NI.
- International applicants are responsible to ensure they obtain the relevant UK visa to support their research trip in the UK for the duration of the Fellowship. For more information, please check UK’s Government’s website.
- Applications will be assessed by a panel consisting of: the Chair of the Friends of Senate House Library, the Senate House Library Head of Collections and a member of the academic staff of the School of Advanced Study.
- Fellowships can be taken up at any time between the following dates: 3 November 2025 to 31 May 2026; 6 July 2026 to 4 September 2026.
- Fellows are expected to submit a report of their fellowship two months after completing the project for inclusion on the library website.
- Fellows are expected to acknowledge the award in any published work arising from the research undertaken during the fellowship.
A completed application form and a CV should be returned to Lucy Evans, Head of Collections by 15 September 2025.
- SHL visiting research fellowship application form (Word document 89.14 KB)
- Dr Richard Ashby: Visiting Research Fellow 2020-2021
- Dr Sugata Nandi: Visiting Research Fellow 2018-2019