Kislak Research Fellowships

Current Grant Cycles 

The Kislak Center Pre-doctoral Research Prize

The Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts invites applications for its spring Pre-doctoral Research Prize. This award recognizes a University of Pennsylvania graduate student conducting research with Kislak collections. 

Awardees will work with special collections and present their research as a talk, workshop, or discussion open to the Penn community in the Spring 2026 semester. 

Qualifications: Advanced graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania working in any area supported by Special Collections are encouraged to apply. 

Deadline: January 9th, 2026 

Award: $750 

To apply, please submit a project title, proposal, and CV to the application portal. 

The Kislak Center Award for Undergraduate Research 

This award recognizes the best work of original research conducted by an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. Essays must engage a book, archival collection, or other material stewarded by the Kislak Center for Special Collections but may address any topic or discipline supported by the library. 

Essays may have been written for a class assignment, activity, or for independent research. Essay length can range from 7 to 15 pages. 

Qualifications: All current undergraduate students at the University of Pennsylvania who have conducted original research in any area supported by Special Collections are encouraged to apply. 

Deadline: January 9th, 2026 

Award: $500

To apply, please submit your essay to the application portal. 

Future Grant Cycles

• The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies offers many fellowships for visiting researchers and graduate students. Learn more about Schoenberg Institute fellowship programs.
• Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies supports an international fellowship program that annually brings together individual scholars around a shared interest in a particular topic or theme. Learn more about the Katz Center fellowships.
• Lorraine Beitler Research Fellowship is a biennial fellowship focused on the Lorraine Beitler Collection of the Dreyfus Affair. Recipients are expected to present their research findings or larger projects during the following academic year. Applications are welcome from faculty, graduate students, independent scholars, teachers, lawyers, and journalists engaged in projects that bear on the historical lessons and enduring significance of the Dreyfus Affair. In keeping with the Collection, we welcome proposals focusing on history, sociology, literature, Jewish studies, communications, political science, rhetoric, art history, law, or human rights.