The Herzog August Bibliothek is an independent research centre funded by the State of Lower Saxony. The scope of the library’s holdings constitutes a unique archive of European culture. Manuscripts, incunabula, rare books and special collections such as engravings, maps and 20th-century artists’ books, enable almost unlimited studies of cultures of knowledge in a global perspective. The library conducts its own research projects in the fields of medieval and early modern studies. Among the topics which currently form the focus of the library’s own research programmes are cultural translation, material culture and the history of collections and collecting. The library also explicitly welcomes applications from scholars who are working on projects related to its new research programmes Religion & Emotion and Historical Image Cultures.

Fellowships are open to all researchers who have already received their PhD. The international programme welcomes applications from all historically oriented disciplines. Fellowships have a residence requirement and guest researchers can be accommodated in the library’s guest houses for the duration of their fellowship.

There are two categories of fellowships:

• Post-doc Fellowships: Early career scholars who are within 6 years of receiving their PhD, may apply for a long-term fellowship of between 6 and 10 months (for applications submitted in January 2020 the PhD must have been awarded in 2014 or later).
• Short-term Fellowships: The fellowships are addressed to a broad range of scholars of all career stages (from post-doc to emeriti) wishing to make a short visit in order to gather source material. Applications can be made for stays of between one and three months.