Van de Sande Fellowship
The Van de Sande Fellow conducts research in the Special Collections of Leiden University Libraries, preferably in one of the areas of interest of the Van de Sande Foundation: the history of pharmacy, botany, medicine. In exceptional cases the fellowship is also available to researchers in the field of Italian language and culture, in particular research that focusses on Dante Alighieri.
Senior Fellowship
The senior fellow, preferably a researcher with an excellent track record and widely recognized by his or her peers, will join the Scaliger Institute for a period of up to 3 months. In addition to the obligation to give the annual Van de Sande lecture, the senior fellow can have the opportunity to give a master class to graduate and PhD students. The research in Leiden should ideally lead to a publication. A final report for the Van de Sande Foundation is required. The grant is € 1,000 per month.
Junior Fellowship
The junior fellow is preferably a PhD student doing research for a dissertation or a post-doc. The maximum stay for a junior fellow at the Scaliger Institute is 2 months. The research in Leiden should ideally lead to a dissertation or a publication. A brief report for the Van de Sande Foundation is required. The grant is € 1,000 per month.
Conditions
The applications for a Van de Sande 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.
The fellowship is intended to cover expenses for travel, accommodation and research, for example expenses for digitization of manuscripts and rare books. Obviously, there is a strong relationship between the research proposal and the use of the Special Collections of Leiden University Libraries, and preferably, but not exclusively, the collection of Van de Sande (Dante and history of pharmacy and botany). The Van de Sande fellow (or fellows) are invited to give an annual public lecture.
The deadline for sending in the application form is 1 April 2025.
Application form
Applicants for the Van de Sande fellowship are required to fill out this application form (see aside) and send it to the coordinator of the Scaliger Insitute, K. van Ommen, MA, Leiden University Library, Postbus 9501, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands.