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Elsevier Fellowship for Digital Scholarship

Do you have plans to conduct scientific research on the basis of the extensive digital collections of Leiden University Libraries (UBL)? Then the Fellowship Program for Digital Scholarship sponsored by Elsevier is something for you.

Fellowship Program for Digital Scholarship sponsored by Elsevier

The Program will enable international scholars to study the digital collections at Leiden University Libraries and to collaborate with the innovative Centre for Digital Scholarship (CDS) at Leiden University. The program will financially support the research fellows to stay in Leiden for two months. During this period, fellows will be invited to share their research outcomes through public lectures and publications. Building on the longstanding Scaliger Institute fellowship program that focused on the study of the special collections at Leiden University, these fellowships enable scholars to enrich their research using methods associated with data science and the digital humanities. 

During the fellowship, attention is also paid to the reproducibility of the research results, and the possibilities of publishing data in accordance with the FAIR data management principles. The tools and the data produced during the fellowship are co-owned by the UBL.

The research preferably, but not exclusively, takes place in the following areas:

  • Use of machine learning algorithms to enhance digital access to UBL’s collections;
  • The computational analysis of visual information within digital images;
  • Applications of Social Network analysis
  • Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS);
  • Research based on manuscripts dispersed over different locations
  • The enrichment of the digital collections of the UBL through annotations, transcriptions and transliterations
  • Using the digital collections in research and education through the development of dynamic learning routes;
  • Enriching the digital collections through semantic enrichments and connections to term networks;
  • Text & data mining based on the textual collections of the UBL, particularly for non-Western languages and textual files with moderate to poor OCR quality.

This is an ongoing fellowship program, and applications can be submitted at any moment throughout the year. We consider applications on a rolling schedule at two deadlines: on 1 June and 1 December.

Conditions Fellowship for Digital Scholarship

The applications for a Fellowship for Digital Scholarship have to comply with a number of conditions:

• When submitting a research proposal, preferably specific mention must be made of the relationship between the proposed research and the digital collections of the UBL that will be examined and consulted;
• The fellow must carry out the largets part of the research during the stay in the Leiden University Library. It is also possible however, to conduct part of the research remotely and to communicate via online meeting tools;
• Applicants must clearly state the proposed dates of their stay on the form;
• The fellowships must be completed in the year of application, unless approval is given by the evaluation committee to deviate from this period;
• The fellow is responsible for finding accommodation in the Netherlands (via the Housing Department of Leiden University) and paying it from the promised fellowship;
• The fellow presents the Scaliger Institute with a research report at the completion of the fellowship;
• The fellow publishes the research in a short article for the newsletter Elsevier Connect;
• The fellow presents the research during an informal lecture for a group of interested Elsevier employees and a lunch meeting at the Leiden Center for Digital Humanities.

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 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;
• 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 per e-mail or by post to: K. van Ommen, Scaliger Institute, PO 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);

Evaluation Board

Fellowship applications will be reviewed by a board consisting of: Prof. dr. Sjef Barbiers (Head of the Leiden University Centre for the Digital Humanities), Alenka Prinčič (Head of the Centre for Digital Scholarship), Dr. Michiel Kolman (SVP Information Industry Relations, Elsevier) en Dr. Kasper van Ommen (Coordinator of the Scaliger Institute).

Application form

Applicants for the Fellowship for Digital Scaholarship are required to fill out this application form (see aside) and send it to the co-ordinator of the Scaliger Insitute by e-mail or post to K. van Ommen, Leiden University Library, PO Box 9501, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.

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