The Friends of Princeton University Library (Friends) are delighted to announce the launch of the special collections research grants program for 2023-24. This program offers researchers from around the world access to Princeton University Library’s (PUL) unique and rare collections.

Successful applicants receive a weekly stipend of $1,200, for up to four weeks - up to $4,800 - plus travel expenses. The length of the grant will depend on the applicant’s research proposal, but is ordinarily between two and four weeks. Grants can be used from May 2024 through April 2025.

Awarded to short-term research projects, the grants aim to promote scholarly use of archives, manuscripts, rare books, and other holdings of PUL Special Collections, including Mudd Library, Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, and the East Asian Library (Gest Collection). 

Grants in 2022-23 were given to support research on topics as far-ranging as “Conceptions of Religion and the Religions in the Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Empire,” “The Writer’s Diary in 20th and 21st Century Latin American Literature,” “Bound and Unbound: Examining Avian Picture Books in the Edo Period,” and “Bookish Things: Pop-up, Movable, and Interactive Books for Children.” Awardees conducted research in the East Asian Collection, Manuscripts Division, Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, Cotsen Children’s Library, and Public Policy Papers - among others. 

The selection committee of University faculty, PUL staff, and members of the Friends awards the grants on the basis of the relevance of the proposal to unique holdings of PUL, the merits and significance of the project, and the applicant’s qualifications. The grants are designed to help defray the costs of traveling to and residing in Princeton to conduct research.

Find out more about the program and how to apply. Questions can be directed to [email protected].