The Joanna and Graham Barker Fellowship Scheme
Two funded-fellowship opportunities for early career, postdoctoral researchers.
Co-design a research project with the Library for a 12-month funded-fellowship, where you will be embedded in our expert curatorial and research teams.
Applications are now open inviting two research proposals that develop one of two themes: Colonial Deposit and our Newspaper Collection and Local Large Language Models to Enable Discovery and Access for Personal Digital Archives. Applications will close on 15 July 2026.
Thanks to a generous donation from Joanna and Graham Barker, this early career fellowship scheme is designed to support and equip researchers, creatives and cultural professionals with the practical skills, professional insight and interdisciplinary experience needed to thrive in a rapidly changing knowledge landscape. A key element of this opportunity is to provide a structured pathway for Fellows to gain transferable, future-facing skills, project- and line-management experience, feel supported within our research community, and generate new expertise for the wider world.
You can find out more about the research themes, eligibility and how to apply on the opportunities pages, but the main requirements are:
- Applicants must be a postdoctoral, early-career researcher
- Applicants must hold a doctorate in a relevant subject or have equivalent professional experience and skills
- Applicants must be eligible to work in the UK for the full period of the fellowship
- Fellowships will run for 12 months from 1 September 2026, or longer if undertaken part time.
Find out more about:
- Colonial Deposit and our Newspaper Collection
- Local Large Language Models to Enable Discovery and Access for Personal Digital Archives
Fellowship Scheme purpose and objectives
In the cultural and heritage sector, as well as academia, the disparity between opportunities for PhD students and early career researchers is stark. Studies show that precarity has a greater impact on women, people of colour, those with caring responsibilities or disabilities and first-generation researchers. This scheme is explicitly designed to address the scarcity of funding available for postdoctoral researchers.
We’re committed to providing a range of postdoctoral opportunities to help develop core research skills, bridge academic and professional practice, and promote inclusive talent development and retention across the galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM) sector and beyond.
The objectives of this scheme are to:
- Expand upon the success of the Library’s collaborative doctoral programmes, bridging the transition towards independent research
- Create new opportunities for early career postdoctoral researchers to build, deepen or broaden their experience of working in, and with, a major cultural and heritage organisation
- Develop the fellows’ skills and future research career in areas of relevance to the work, collections and practices of the Library
- Deliver high quality and impactful research and innovation projects that contribute to institutional knowledge, practice and strategic priorities
- Enhance discoverability, interpretation, and intellectual coherence within collections
- Further extend the Library’s engagement with, and contribution to, society
- Promote equality, diversity and inclusion principles in research.
Structure, outputs, eligibility and how to apply
Fellowship structure
Fellows will be hosted and supervised within the relevant area of the Library and supported by the Research Development team. They will be embedded within their team, provided with desk space and ICT equipment and will benefit from privileged staff-level access to collections.
The Fellow will also be invited to join departmental meetings enabling them to learn more about curatorial activities and the wider collections. They will be offered mentorship, networking, and assisted in identifying opportunities to gain experience in institutional research culture, public programming, and collections-based scholarship. They will be able to access the wide range of workshops, talks, training and expertise available at the Library, including but not limited to: the Digital Scholarship Training Programme, Cultural Property Training, Researcher Packed Lunches and Carbon Literacy training.
Outputs, training and development
By the conclusion of the Fellowship, each Fellow will have:
- advanced a significant programme of original research demonstrating the value of collaborative, collections-based research within a national cultural institution
- produced or prepared substantial professional or scholarly outputs, in line with their submitted research proposal
- contributed meaningfully to the interpretation and visibility of British Library collections through presentations, public engagement work, and other activities
- presented their work at an internal staff talk and submitted a written report of 1000 words upon completion of their project, detailing collections used, findings, outputs, planned future activities and recommendations. This report will be uploaded to the Library’s Shared Research Repository
- supervised a 3-month PhD Placement supported through the Library’s PhD Placement Scheme.
Eligibility
To apply for a fellowship, you must meet all the following criteria:
- hold a doctorate in a relevant subject or have equivalent professional experience and skills
- have a demonstrable commitment to working with the cultural and heritage sector
- be based, and be eligible to work, in the UK for the full period of the fellowship
- self-identify as an postdoctoral Early Career Researcher in accordance with the AHRC guidance on training and developing early career researchers in the arts and humanities: ‘In encouraging self-identification, we hope to recognise the breadth of the arts and humanities research community and the diverse career paths which early career researchers follow... Eligibility is determined on the basis of funding history, and we do not consider years post-PhD or job title to be a marker of career progression.’
If you have passed your viva before the application deadline with minor corrections, you are eligible to apply. You will not be eligible if you must make major corrections which need to be re-assessed so the final submission of your thesis falls after the application deadline.
How to apply
Submit your application on our recruitment panel.
To apply, please:
- refer to the detailed research theme description
- complete the application form in our recruitment portal
- attach a short CV (max. 2 pages)
- attach a research proposal, including (max. 2000 words):
- Aims and objectives – What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work? Why is it important?
- How it aligns with the research theme – What are the potential direct and indirect benefits to the Fellow, the Library, and the wider cultural and heritage sector?
- Methodology, including indicative timescale and outputs – How are you going to deliver your proposed work? Please include an outline budget. You may also wish to include a Gantt chart or other visual aid to support this section.
- Professional development and career aspirations – Why is this fellowship the right way to develop your career, and how will you use it to benefit others?
The assessment panel will consider the following criteria:
- development of the research theme and how well this complements British Library collections, resources, expertise and need
- the significance of the proposed research within the wider intellectual and cultural landscape
- how well the proposal fits with applicants’ research interests and expertise, as well as future aspirations
- commitment to working within the cultural and heritage sector, and capacity to manage a collaborative research project
- ability to support others, and promote meaningful research engagement and impact
- ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing, for internal and external audiences
Once selected, the Fellow will further refine the research topic and incorporated PhD Placement alongside the Library Supervisor and Research Development team, in order to gain maximum benefit from the collaboration.
