Research Opportunities and Scholars

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Research Opportunities and Scholars

The Library — a center for scholarship in its own right — offers a variety of research opportunities throughout the year for undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, and visiting researchers and scholars.

Opportunities for Brown Community Members

Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing Institute

Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing: Resources and Roadmaps - An NEH Institute on Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities is a three-week summer institute offered by the Library’s Brown University Digital Publications that provides humanities scholars from all career levels and across disciplines with in-depth knowledge of the digital publishing process, familiarity with open source tools and platforms, advanced project management skills, concrete and individualized plans for project advancement, and top-level publishing industry contacts. Launched with generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, it is a first-of-its-kind national training program designed for scholars who wish to produce digital publications, but may lack the necessary resources and capacity at their home institutions. Centered on inclusivity and accessibility, the institute expands the field of scholars producing enhanced born-digital publications and, by extension, the audience for digital humanities scholarship.

East Asian Library Fellowships

The Library offers two East Asian library fellowships for scholars interested in working with East Asian library materials.

  • Gardner Fellowship: Open to Brown undergraduate and graduate students.
  • Brown-BNU International Research Collaboration Fund: Open to both students and faculty at Brown University who are currently engaged in or planning to start China-oriented research projects.

Graduate Student Proctorships and Interdisciplinary Opportunities Fellowships

Brown offers proctorship and fellowship opportunities for advanced doctoral students in humanities and social sciences that allow them to engage in the research activities of interdisciplinary centers and institutes at Brown, including the Library. Visit the Graduate School’s Interdisciplinary Opportunities page for a complete listing.

John Hay Library Undergraduate Fellowship

Over eight weeks each summer, the John Hay Library Undergraduate Fellows build research skills using primary sources to develop an original project. Projects do not have to be completed by the end of the summer; the fellowship can serve as a start for a senior thesis or can be a further exploration of work begun during a course. Fellows work primarily in the Gildor Family Special Collections Reading Room at the John Hay Library.

Stronger Together, Excellence in Library Leadership Program

The Stronger Together, Excellence in Library Leadership Program, which ran from 2021 to 2023, was created as part of the formal partnership that the HBCU Library Alliance established with Brown University Library, welcoming Brown into its community of practice as its first invited, non-HBCU affiliate member. The program for emerging library leaders was the first leadership program to intentionally unite emerging library leaders from two distinct communities of practice: HBCUs and Brown University. 

Undergraduate Prize for Excellence in Library Research

Given each spring in partnership between the Office of the Dean of the College and the Brown University Library, the Undergraduate Prize for Excellence in Library Research recognizes undergraduate students who demonstrate exceptional sophistication and originality in research initiatives. Research projects are assessed on their creative and extensive use of the Library's collections, including, but not limited to, print resources, databases, primary resources, and materials in all media. 

Opportunities for External Researchers

Scholars in the Library

View the current and past researchers who have held special scholarly positions with the Library, including those listed above.