Brill Fellowship

Since 2006, publishing house Brill in Leiden has sponsored the appointment of so-called 'Brill Fellows'. The Brill Fellow researches items in the department Special Collections of Leiden University; as much as possible, this research is based on any of the specific publishing areas of publishing house Brill in the Humanities.

Brill Fellowship

Since 2006 publishing house Brill, the oldest publishing house in the Netherlands, has funded the accommodation of one or two so-called 'Brill fellows' with the Scaliger Institute. The Brill fellow carries out research in the Special Collections of the University Library within one of the publishing areas of Brill in the Humanities. The Brill fellow is expected to contribute to the activities of the Scaliger Institute, and to give a public lecture. If the opportunity presents itself, Brill is prepared to publish the lecture in co-operation with the Scaliger Institute.

The allowance is € 1,000 per month.

The deadline for sending in the application form is 1 April 2025.

Conditions Brill fellowship

The applications for a Brill fellowship have to comply with a number of conditions:

• Fellows are expected to conduct their research in Leiden University Libraries and/or The Scaliger Institute during the period of the Fellowship.
• Fellows are responsible for ensuring they have the correct visa to support a research trip in the Netherlands for the duration of the Fellowship.
• An invitation to take up a Fellowship will be made subject to agreement on the dates of the visit. Applicants should indicate their preferred dates on the application form.
• It is the Fellow's responsibility to find accommodation (with the support of the Housing Department of the University) and to fund all the costs of the visit with the support of the funds awarded. Applicants should be aware that accommodation costs in Leiden may exceed the funds offered.
• The Fellow will provide the Scaliger Institute with a written research report on the completion of the Fellowship.
• The Fellow will provide Leiden University Libraries with a copy of any publication resulting from the research visit.

Applicants are reminded that if they require a visa in order to take up a Fellowship in the Netherlands, they must secure the appropriate visa and, once a proposal has been accepted, award of the Fellowship will be conditional on fulfilling this requirement.

Applications must include:
• A completed application form stating personal details, the name of the Fellowship, the title of the proposed research project, the preferred dates of the intended visit and the names and addresses of two academic referees;
• A proposal for research to be carried out in the Special Collections of Leiden University Library during the term of the Fellowship (1,200 words or fewer). Applicants should indicate how the proposed study advances their own research goals and how the study satisfies any particular aims of the award.
• The research proposal must specify the relation between the proposed research and the primary sources, which are to be researched and consulted in the Special Collections Department of the library;
• A list of manuscripts, editions of other items to be consulted in the library, supplied with shelf marks;
• A start and end date of the proposed research;
• A curriculum vitae;
• A list of relevant publications;
• Two letters of recommendation from the academic referees named in the application form. Applicants should ask the referees to comment on their professional knowledge of the applicant and the contribution the proposed research would make to scholarship. The referees should be asked to send their letters directly to the Coordinator of the Fellowship Programme, by email to scaliger@library.leidenuniv.nl or by post to the following address: K. van Ommen, Scaliger Institute, P.O. Box 9501, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands;
• Researchers who have yet to obtain their doctoral degree also need to have a letter of recommendation from their supervisor(s);
• Fellows who have previously received a fellowship from the Scaliger Institute, cannot obtain this grant a second time.

Evaluation committee

Applications for the Brill fellowship can be presented to an evaluation committee consisting of Prof. dr. R. Honings (Scaliger professor), Dr. K. van Ommen, (co-ordinator Scaliger Institute) and Prof. dr. H. van Ruler (Honorary Professor of Intellectual History of the Renaissance and the Baroque in the Faculty of Philosophy at Erasmus University Rotterdam).

Application form

Applicants for the Brill fellowship are required to fill out this application form (see aside), and send it to the coordinator of the Scaliger Insitute, K. van Ommen, Leiden University Library, P.O. Box 9501, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands.