David and Ann Vincent Fellowship : For Students : Humanities Center : University of Rochester

David and Ann Vincent Fellowship

Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation (RBSCP) in the River Campus Libraries at the University of Rochester offers two competitive, short-term student fellowships to support research for one undergraduate and one graduate student in the summer of 2026. The fellowships are available to undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral researchers at the University of Rochester or such students outside the Rochester, NY metropolitan area. They are intended to support academic research and creative projects that would benefit from research conducted on-site in RBSCP. The fellowship supports visits of six weeks in May and June of 2026.

The fellowship program aims to facilitate research in RBSCP’s special collections by a broad group of emerging scholars, regardless of institutional association, race, academic or cultural background, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, or experience using special collections. Funds may be used for travel, housing and board, and other resources to support the student’s research in the collections. We welcome applications from traditional academic scholars as well as from individuals who wish to pursue creative, interdisciplinary, and non-traditional approaches to conducting research in special collections.

RBSCP stewards rich archival, print, and manuscript collections in numerous areas. Particular strengths include: 19^th-century historical papers including those of Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Seward Family, and Post Family, and numerous others; Modern industry including the Kodak Historical Collection, Ward Family Papers (founders of Ward Science), Joseph C. Wilson Papers (founder of Xerox), and early American seed companies like Ellwanger and Barry. RBSCP holds what is likely the largest collection of AIDS Education posters and materials in the world. The Rossell Hope Robins Library for medieval study holds a rich collection of medieval manuscripts available for research as part of this fellowship, and this is augmented by RBSCP’s large collection of early printed books.

Applicants may consult RBSCP’s ArchivesSpace for archival collections available (https://archives.lib.rochester.edu/) and consult past digital projects for collections (https://www.library.rochester.edu/rbscp/digital-exhibitions-and-projects); for print collections, applicants may consults DiscoverUR and limit selections to Rare Books (https://www.library.rochester.edu/).

We encourage applicants to reach out to rbscp@library.rochester.eduwith any questions about applications and access.

Stipend

Fellowships run six weeks, from May 15 to June 30, 2026
Graduate fellowship is $7,000 for the six-week period
Undergraduate fellowship is $5,000 for the six-week period

Eligibility

Undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs who are U.S. citizens or international applicants based at the University of Rochester or outside the Rochester, NY metropolitan area.

Deliverables

Both undergraduate and graduate student recipients will be required to present on their research at a Humanities Center Work-in-Progress Seminar during the 2026-2027 academic year.

Applications

Applicants will be required to provide a CV, one letter of recommendation, and a project proposal (up to 300 words) that includes a general description of the research projects, the collection(s) that will be consulted during the fellowship, and an explanation of how collections existing only at RBSCP are essential to the research project.

Applications should be sent to humanities@rochester.edu by March 15 and will be reviewed by a committee comprised of representatives from RBSCP, River Campus Libraries, and the Humanities Center at the University of Rochester.