Grants and Residencies

The Libraries annually award a Summer Undergraduate Research Grant (SURG) to one Northwestern undergraduate student. The grant supports an independent academic or creative project that utilizes library collections and expertise in the field of study of Native American and Indigenous research. The grant provides $4,000 to cover living expenses for eight weeks of full-time independent research under the supervision of a faculty advisor and the guidance of a librarian mentor.

APPLY to SURG GRANT

The Affordable Instructional Resources (AIR) initiative annually award grant funding to adopt, adapt, or develop open educational resources (OER) for undergraduate courses. Funded by the Office of the Provost and University Libraries, these grants are intended to fund the work involved in finding, creating, using and sharing OER as replacements for required commercial textbooks. No experience with OER is necessary to apply.

Apply to OER Grant

Northwestern Libraries annually award grants to cover travel costs for visiting researchers who are pursuing projects that require substantial onsite use of our collections and draw upon the expertise of our curators, librarians and staff.

Travel Grants are awarded for work with the following collections. Click through the link to see more and to see application requirements.

• John Cage Collection
• Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections and University Archives
• Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies
• Transportation Library

Northwestern University Libraries offer an advanced post-graduate conservation residency for a two-year appointment. The residency provides practical experience in a busy academic library conservation lab balancing treatment responsibilities with professional research activities. The resident has the opportunity to gain bench experience, develop skills in treatment decision making and participate in the management of a complex workflow.

In addition, Northwestern's unique holdings allow the possibility to gain experience in assessing and evaluating a variety of library and museum objects, including paintings, ethnographic objects, textiles and realia. Research topics will be developed in consultation with the resident's supervisor at the beginning of the residency and could include treatment techniques, materials identification, or historical studies. The residency also offers the unique opportunity to visit and interact with conservators at other Chicago-area conservation labs that work with a broad range of materials.