Durham Collections Fellowships

The Durham Collections Fellowships hosts researchers for Visiting Fellowships, from one to three months in duration. In addition, a series of named fellowships are available to work on particular collections or subject areas.

The Durham Collections Fellowships aims to enable and foster research across the three historic collections of Durham – those held by Durham Cathedral, Ushaw College, and Durham University, including Palace Green Library and the Oriental Museum. They include not only libraries, but also archives, collections of visual and material culture, and architectural assets. The purpose of the Visiting Fellowships is to support research into these globally significant collections.

In addition to the general scheme, there are several named visiting fellowship programmes. The Barker Visiting Fellowships are intended to support research into any of the collections held in Durham. The Lendrum Priory Library Fellowships specifically 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. The Holland Visiting Fellowships support research into any of the collections held in Durham.

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.

IMEMS Library Fellowships

In 2015, thanks to a generous donation from Joanna Barker, IMEMS launched the IMEMS Library Fellowship Scheme, which ran for four years as a precursor to the Durham Residential Research Library.