Barker Postdoctoral Fellow in Born-Digital Archives

Job details

Contractual hours: 36 hours

Basis:
Full time

Job category/type:
Research

Date posted: 15/06/2026

Job reference: R

Location: St Pancras

Contract: Fixed term (12 months)

Hours: Full time (36 hours)

Grade: B

Salary: £35,993 per annum

This is the starting salary for this role, unless the successful candidate is able to evidence being in receipt of a higher salary, in which case this may be reviewed.

Co-design a research project with the Library for a 12-month funded‑fellowship, where you will be embedded in our expert curatorial and research teams.

Thanks to a generous donation from Joanna and Graham Barker, these fellowships are designed to support and equip researchers, creatives, and cultural professionals with the practical skills, professional insight, and interdisciplinary experience needed to thrive in a rapidly changing knowledge landscape. A key element of this opportunity is a structured pathway for Fellows to gain transferable, future‑facing skills, project‑ and line‑management experience, feel supported within our research community, and generate new expertise for the wider cultural and academic ecosystem.

We are inviting research proposals that develop the theme of ‘Local Large Language Models to Enable Discovery and Access for Personal Digital Archives.’ This fellowship will be supervised by Callum McKean, Lead Curator for Born‑Digital Archives, and supported by the Research Development Team.

Personal Digital Archives (PDAs) are collections of born‑digital materials created over a person’s life and work. These include e‑mails, documents, photographs, system files, voice recordings, and other digital content. The Library’s collection is the largest and most significant in the UK, and we play a leading international role in developing their preservation, description, and access.

Despite their value, PDAs present major challenges due to their scale and sensitive content and, as a result, many of these collections remain inaccessible to the public. The Fellow will explore how ‘local’ (offline) Large Language Models (LLMs) can be applied to PDAs, developing a case study approach to demonstrate how these tools can improve access and interpretation.

To apply for this fellowship, you must meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the attached guidelines and refer to the detailed research theme description. Please attach a short, anonymised CV (max. 2 pages) and a research proposal (max. 2000 words), including:

• Aims and objectives – What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work? Why is it important?
• How it aligns with the research theme – What are the potential direct and indirect benefits to the Fellow, the Library, and the wider cultural and heritage sector?
• Methodology, including indicative timescale and outputs – How are you going to deliver your proposed work? Please include an outline budget. You may wish to include a Gantt chart or other visual aid to support this section.
• Professional development and career aspirations

We are the national library of the UK and we are here for everyone. Our shelves hold over 170 million items – a living collection that gets bigger every day. Although our roots extend back centuries, we aim to collect everything published in the UK today, tomorrow and far into the future. Our trusted experts care for this collection and open it up for everyone to spark new discoveries, ideas and to help people do incredible things.

• Access to a defined‑benefit Civil Service pension scheme.
• Flexible working arrangements, including flexi‑time.
• 25 days’ holiday plus 2.5 privilege days.
• Full details of employee benefits can be found on our Careers:
  Benefits

• We are unable to provide sponsorship under the UK Skilled Worker visa for this role.
• Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check (DBS check).
• Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn.
• We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse candidates and disabled candidates. Creating an inclusive workplace is the core of our business and a way to engage the diversity of thought that is essential to achieve our aims.

23:59 on 15 July 2026

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