The Bancroft Library offers fellowships to support research in our special collections

We invite graduate students, undergraduates, and independent scholars to apply by Feb. 5, 2024

The Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley is pleased to announce we are now accepting applications for our 2024-25 fellowships and awards, available to graduate students, undergraduates, and independent scholars conducting research in our special collections. The Bancroft Library is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive research environment, and seeks to support students and scholars using the collections both for traditional archival and bibliographic research, as well as those wishing to use the collections for creative projects.

Applications are due February 5, 2024, at 5 p.m., with decisions to be made by early April 2024. 

Theresa Salazar, center, pointing at an open book on a table, with two students seated at either side. The table is covered with several open books, with indeterminate photos, illustrations, and text showing.
Bancroft Library curator Theresa Salazar assists undergraduate researchers. Photo by Cathy Cockrell (Courtesy of UC Regents).

Research areas

Several fellowships offer funding for research that would benefit from the use of any source materials in The Bancroft Library. Other fellowships are focused around specific subject areas. Our fellowships and awards range in amounts.

Our 2024-25 fellowships and awards are in the following research areas:

  • Research that would benefit from the use of any source materials in the Bancroft
  • History of California
  • Nineteenth century American West and related topics
  • Jewish experience in California from 1848 to 1915
  • Print culture in any part of the Western Hemisphere, or any investigation of the history of the book in the Americas

How to apply

Two students closely studying an old book with yellowed pages
Bancroft archival materials in use by students.

Our Fellowships and Awards website has details about all the eligibility criteria for each fellowship or award, and the application process. Some opportunities are designated for Berkeley undergraduates, some for graduate students at any University of California campus, and some are open to students at any college or university or independent scholars —complete descriptions are on the website.

Please share this announcement with undergraduate and graduate students, and anyone else who may be interested in The Bancroft Library’s fellowship program.

About the Bancroft Library

The Bancroft Library is the primary special collections library at UC Berkeley, and one of the largest and most heavily used libraries of manuscripts, rare books, and unique materials in the United States. Bancroft supports major research and instructional activities and plays a leading role in the development of the university’s research collections.

Since Bancroft is a reference library, its collections are non-circulating, which means they are only available for your use in the Heller Reading Room. Fellowships and Awards facilitate this in-person research.

The Bancroft Library welcomes researchers from the UC Berkeley campus, nationally, and from around the world. Our holdings currently include: more than 600,000 volumes; 60 million manuscript items; 8 million photographs/pictorial materials; over 3 million digital files; 43,000 microforms; and 23,000 maps.

People worldwide can access Bancroft’s digital collections, which include digitized materials from the library’s extensive and ever-growing holdings, as well as born digital materials collected as part of our archival manuscript and pictorial collections.


Publish your scholarship like a pro!

Woman wearing gold watch, sitting at table, typing on a Microsoft Surface notebook
Photograph by Women of Color in Tech, CC-BY 2.0.

We’re more than a month into the fall semester, and if you’re a graduate student or postdoc you’ve probably been thinking about some of the milestones on your horizon, from filing your thesis or dissertation to pitching your first book project or looking for a job.

While we can’t write your dissertation or submit your job application for you, the Library can help in other ways! We are collaborating with GradPro to offer a series of professional development workshops for grad students, postdocs, and other early career scholars to guide you through important decisions and tasks in the research and publishing process, from preparing your dissertation to building a global audience for your work.

  • October 22: Copyright and Your Dissertation
  • October 23: From Dissertation to Book: Navigating the Publication Process
  • October 25: Managing and Maximizing Your Scholarly Impact

These sessions are focused on helping early career researchers develop real-world scholarly publishing skills and apply this expertise to a more open, networked, and interdisciplinary publishing environment.

These workshops are also taking place during Open Access Week 2019, an annual global effort to bring attention to Open Access around the world and highlight how the free, immediate, online availability of scholarship can remove barriers to information, support emerging scholarship, and foster the spread of knowledge and innovation.

Below is the list of next week’s workshop offerings. Join us for one workshop or all three! Each session will take place at the Graduate Professional Development Center, 309 Sproul Hall. Please RSVP at the links below.

Light refreshments will be served at all workshops.

If you have any questions about these workshops, please get in touch with schol-comm@berkeley.edu. And if you can’t make it to a workshop but still need help with your publishing, we are always here for you!

 

Copyright and Your Dissertation

Workshop | October 22 | 1-2:30 p.m. | 309 Sproul Hall

This workshop will provide you with a practical workflow for navigating copyright questions and legal considerations for your dissertation or thesis. Whether you’re just starting to write or you’re getting ready to file, you can use this workflow to figure out what you can use, what rights you have, and what it means to share your dissertation online.

RSVP (Copyright)

 

From Dissertation to Book: Navigating the Publication Process

Panel Discussion | October 23 | 3-4:30 p.m. | 309 Sproul Hall

Hear from a panel of experts – an acquisitions editor, a first-time book author, and an author rights expert – about the process of turning your dissertation into a book. You’ll come away from this panel discussion with practical advice about revising your dissertation, writing a book proposal, approaching editors, signing your first contract, and navigating the peer review and publication process.

RSVP (Book)

 

Managing and Maximizing Your Scholarly Impact

Workshop | October 25 | 1-2:30 p.m. | 309 Sproul Hall

This workshop will provide you with practical strategies and tips for promoting your scholarship, increasing your citations, and monitoring your success. You’ll also learn how to understand metrics, use scholarly networking tools, evaluate journals and publishing options, and take advantage of funding opportunities for Open Access scholarship.

RSVP (Impact)


Interlibrary loan expands to international institutions

The UC Berkeley Interlibrary Services Department is now partnering with peer international institutions such as University of Edinburgh and Munich’s Bayerische Staatsbibliothek to share library resources. This pilot program, available to support the research needs of faculty and graduate students, expands the service beyond the photocopies that were available previously. Patrons can submit their requests using the Request button in Melvyl. The pilot program, which is free, will last through the summer of 2015. 

Questions? Phone the Interlibrary Service Department at (510) 642-7365.