Making a research proposal
The research committee meets six times per year to review proposals for research projects and partnerships. We have worked with researchers on many grant-funded projects and invite proposals for collaborations.
Researchers seeking collaboration with the Libraries in an application to a funding body are encouraged to engage with the research committee at the earliest possible stage in their proposal development.
The forms will be reviewed by the research committee, and we will be able to suggest the appropriate staff to consider your proposal according to their specialisms and internal workloads.
To enable Bodleian Libraries’ approval, please ensure you have allowed at least the following lead times:
- When requesting the Bodleian Libraries to be a project partner on your proposal: 2 months
- When requesting Bodleian staff to be a co-investigator on your proposal: 3 months
Proposals that are not submitted in good time are unlikely to be approved.
Research and academic collaboration
The Bodleian Libraries leads and collaborates in projects that explore and expand the reach of our unique collections, that encourage innovation in digital research methods, and that contribute to the development of the world of information and libraries for society.
The Libraries supports the exchange of knowledge with academic researchers at formal and informal scholarly events. Our Visiting Fellowships Programme fosters research in the collections through grants for scholars worldwide to make research visits.
We welcome proposals for collaboration with the Bodleian Libraries from scholars within the University of Oxford or from higher education institutions and cultural heritage institutions from within and beyond the UK.
We particularly welcome proposals which relate to:
- Bodleian collections, both physical and digital
- Digital scholarship
- Library sciences and information management
- Innovations in methods for the study of the book in all its forms
- Public engagement with our collections
- Conservation and non-destructive analysis of library collections
- Text and data mining, including analysis and visualisation
- Supervision of doctoral students in general and doctoral training partnerships
- Proposals from junior research fellows, post-doctoral researchers and early career researchers
Funding opportunities
Short-term Visiting Fellowships enable researchers from outside of the University of Oxford to make the best use of time with library collections and to draw upon the expertise of library staff and the academic environment.
The Bodleian Libraries also supports applications to externally funded postdoctoral schemes such as the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships scheme and the Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships scheme.
We host students under the Collaborative Doctoral Partnership scheme, both through the University of Oxford GLAM funding route and via other funding award routes.
