The Joanna and Graham Barker Fellowship Scheme 2026–2027
The British Library
Quick Facts
A word from Eli, founder of Rise Africa Scholars
MSc Information Security — Unicaf Scholar
While you wait for a fully funded opportunity, don’t put your education on hold. I completed my MSc through Unicaf — studying online from Nairobi while working full-time. The tuition discount made it genuinely affordable, and the degree is from an accredited UK university.
If you’re serious about advancing your career now, I’d encourage you to explore it. I only recommend what I’ve used myself.
About This Scholarship
The British Library offers two 12-month funded postdoctoral fellowships for early-career researchers to co-design research projects within specialist themes of colonial legal deposit and newspaper collections, or local large language models for personal digital archives. Fellows will be embedded within expert curatorial and research teams, gaining practical skills, professional mentoring, and access to world-class archival collections.
What This Scholarship Covers
- Full funding for 12-month fellowship
- Desk space and ICT equipment
- Privileged staff-level access to collections
- Professional mentoring and development
- Research leadership and project management training
- Interdisciplinary collaboration opportunities
- Staff-level benefits and institutional support
Who Can Apply
- 1 Must be a postdoctoral, early-career researcher
- 2 Must hold a doctorate in a relevant subject or have equivalent professional experience and skills
- 3 Must be eligible to work in the UK for the full period of the fellowship (12 months from 1 September 2026)
- 4 Research proposal must align with one of the two specified themes: Colonial Legal Deposit and the British Library Newspaper Collection, or Local Large Language Models for Personal Digital Archives