The National Archives and Research Libraries UK (RLUK) facilitate a Professional Fellowship Scheme to enable staff from both organisations, and for the first time, colleagues from the wider archive sector, to gain experience and insight from one another, strengthen and diversify the relationship between them, and to overcome some of the collective challenges facing research, and cultural organisations. 

The scheme aligns itself with corporate aims and ambitions of The National Archives, as outlined in The National Archives’ 2025-2030 strategy and Research Vision (2024-2027), and RLUK’s 2026 – 2030 strategy, whilst also enabling personal development opportunities for the individuals involved. 

Professional Fellowships will be structured around a flexible, short-term visit to The National Archives, for Fellows from an RLUK member institution or eligible archive sector partner, and to an RLUK member institution, for Fellows from The National Archives or eligible archive sector partner, while being underpinned by a longer period of peer-to-peer mentoring and knowledge sharing. Depending on capacity within/across institutions, there may also be opportunities to visit relevant and eligible archival institutions throughout the course of the Fellowship. A financial allocation will be made to support the work of Professional Fellows.

Read about the experience of past Fellows at: https://research.rluk.ac.uk/trpfs/

Announcements

Applications are now open for the 2026-27 scheme.

The video below provides an overview of the scheme for 2026-27.

The RLUK/TNA Professional Fellowship has been an excellent opportunity for Sarah to develop her professional profile and gain new skills and knowledge. As a team, we have benefited from her work on The Challenging Records Toolkit, and there has been strong engagement from colleagues working in other areas of our Library & Learning Services. The support from Sarah’s mentor and others at The National Archives has also been very valuable. Based on feedback she has received already, the toolkit is an impactful contribution to this developing area of professional practice.

Simon Dixon, Associate Director for Community and Heritage, University of Leicester

Mentoring Ailie was fascinating and a real pleasure. It was great to contribute to shaping research as Ailie’s initial plans developed and changed, to progress towards a really productive output. I feel like I got to know my own organisation better through Ailie’s placements at Kew, and built my own understanding through working with Ailie and Francesca who are both very hands-on digital practitioners.

Melinda Haunton, Programme Manager (Archive Service Accreditation), The National Archives

The scheme offered me an exciting opportunity to support someone with similar research interests, working in a different organisation. Together we worked through challenges, and I was also able to support them as they navigated a large institution, giving them space to explore different approaches and helping them to pivot when needed. It was very rewarding to see someone through the course of a project, and gain a colleague too!

Dr. Chloe Lee, Collections Expertise and Engagement | On the Record Host | Spaces, Places, and Belonging (AHRC)

Information for applicants

Up to six Professional Fellowships will be available each year supporting colleagues from The National Archives, RLUK member institutions, or eligible archive sector partners to investigate a professional-practice question. The scheme is designed to enable colleagues to place their work within a wider professional and organisational setting, and to benefit from the expertise of colleagues at The National Archives, for Fellows from an RLUK member institution or eligible archive sector partner, and at RLUK member institutions, for Fellows from The National Archives or eligible archive sector partner. Professional Fellowships are not secondments and colleagues will be expected to continue in their substantive role within their sponsoring (home) organisation.

Professional Fellowships should lead to tangible outcomes and deliverables that directly benefit the host organisation, contributing to its priorities and operations. They should also strengthen relationships between The National Archives, RLUK, and the wider archive sector, supporting collaboration, shared learning, and the exchange of expertise and best practice. 

Professional Fellows will be monitored throughout their Fellowship to ensure that they receive adequate support from their sponsoring and host organisations, undertake the activities in their CPD plan, and successfully deliver the outcomes of their Fellowship. More information on the monitoring and evaluation of Professional Fellowships can be found in the scheme guidance document.

Who can apply?

Applications are open to employees of The National Archives, RLUK member organisations and for the first time, people working with archival collections across the wider archive sector if they:

  • Are permanently employed by The National Archives, an RLUK member organisation, or another organisation working with archival collections; or 
  • Are employed on a fixed-term contract with one of these organisations, with a contract end date at least three months after the proposed end date of the Professional Fellowship. 
  • Have formal approval from their line manager (for TNA and RLUK members additional approval from their Head of Department) at the point of application. 

To be eligible for the wider archive sector programme, an archive must be located in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man; hold a permanent collection in dedicated, secure storage; provide public access to its collections; and have dedicated staff with appropriate access to professional archival expertise. Its collection should exceed at least one of the following thresholds: 4,000 items, 50 linear metres, 4.2 cubic metres or 20 GB of digital records.

You do not need an academic or research background to apply, and there is no formal qualification requirement for the scheme. 

We welcome applications from people of all ages, levels of experience and backgrounds. We particularly encourage applications from those currently under-represented in the library and archive sector. 

Application process

The Professional Fellowship Scheme has a single-stage application process. Applicants should discuss their application with their line manager and agree the time to be committed to the Fellowship. Applicants from within The National Archives should endeavour to speak to members of Research Impact, Culture and Engagement Team regarding their application, applicants from the archive sector should speak to members of the Archives Sector Leadership Team at The National Archives, and those applying from within an RLUK member, with a member of the RLUK Executive. Please find contact details listed below.

Each application should link to one of the following themes:

  • Sustainability
  • Equality, diversity, inclusion and cultural change
  • Impact, value and affect
  • Rethinking the record

Further details about the application and assessment process is provided in the scheme guidance.

Download the full application form

Schedule for 2026-27 applications

Contacts

For colleagues at RLUK member institutions:

Dr Christina Kamposiori, Executive Programme Officer, Research Libraries UK

For colleagues at The National Archives:

Dr Mollie Clarke, Academic Engagement Manager, The National Archives

For archive sector colleagues:

David Morris, Head of Regions and Networks, The National Archives

Top Tips for Applying

You can find some top tips for applying here

FAQs

Can I apply?

The eligibility criteria for the Professional Fellowship Scheme are given within the Professional Fellowship scheme guidance. Colleagues from The National Archives and across the RLUK membership are encouraged to apply. Individuals working in the archive sector are also eligible, provided they work with archival collections; this includes those based in both established and emerging archives. This is an inclusive scheme and applicants from any career level or department can apply.

What do you mean by a ‘professional practice question’?

Professional practice means the application of a person’s knowledge or expertise to a problem or challenge. These can be problems that applicants face in their daily role and the Fellowship can be used to research and acquire the necessary skills, experience or confidence to overcome these.

Can start dates be flexible?

Yes. A flexible start date can be negotiated with your sponsoring (home) and host organisation. However, if you think that you will be unable to begin a Professional Fellowship in October 2026, please speak to your scheme representative at the earliest moment.

Are exchanges between staff from the National Archives and RLUK institutions possible?

Exchanges are possible, but please contact your scheme representative to discuss this option in more detail.

Do I need to be research active or within the Research and Collections Directorate to apply?

No. Staff from any department can apply to the Professional Fellowship Scheme. You do not need to be research active or have a track record in academic research. If you are uncertain whether your area of interest is suitable for a Professional Fellowship, please contact Christina Kamposiori christina.kamposiori@rluk.ac.uk if you are an RLUK member, Mollie Clarke mollie.clarke@nationalarchives.gov.uk if you are a member of staff at The National Archives, or David Morris david.morris@nationalarchives.gov.uk if you are a member of the archive sector, for an informal discussion.

How will I combine a Professional Fellowship with my substantive role?

Professional Fellowships are not secondments and therefore Fellows are expected to continue in their substantive role throughout the period of the Fellowship. It will be essential that applicants talk with their line manager or head of department at the earliest possible moment about how being a Professional Fellow will help them in their substantive role. Suitable adjustments should be made to an individual’s performance objectives and responsibilities depending on the size and scope of the proposed Fellowship activities. These adjustments are to be decided between an applicant and their line manager. Please refer to guidance for line managers and participating organisations, or alternatively, should managers have any further questions they can contact relevant scheme representatives.

For the duration of a Fellowship, the scheme’s Board actively supports and encourages Fellows to complete their projects, alongside their daily work responsibilities. Flexibility and reasonable adjustments to schedule can be considered based on individual circumstances. If you are not sure if you can complete a Professional Fellowship due to limited flexibility in your work schedule, please contact your scheme representative for an informal discussion and any options you may have.

Information for sponsoring and host organisations

Sponsoring organisations:

The success of an individual Professional Fellowship will depend on the support and commitment of a Fellow’s sponsoring organisation (i.e. the organisation from which they originate). Organisations should support staff in the development of their application to the scheme, ensuring that it supports them in their substantive role and professional development. If an applicant is successful, sponsoring organisations should ensure that staff have adequate time to undertake their Fellowship and that its findings and outcomes can be shared and embedded throughout the organisation.

Host organisations:

One of the key components of the Professional Fellowship Scheme is a short-term residency within an organisation that is not the Fellow’s home institution. Depending on where the Fellow originates from (i.e. their home organisation), this will be a short-term residency within The National Archives (for Fellows from an RLUK member or an eligible archive partner) or at an RLUK member (for Fellows from The National Archives or an eligible archive partner). It is intended that both the Fellow and host organisation will derive significant benefits from the Professional Fellowship Scheme.

The envisaged benefits include:

  • Raising of their respective profiles as centres of expertise;
  • Enable the opening of new strategic conversations that may not otherwise occur;
  • Identify new potential partnerships for joint initiatives or markets for their respective services;
  • Improving corporate processes and procedures through engaging in critical friendship and their contextualisation within a wider organisational setting.

Amongst the responsibilities of host organisations is to provide a named mentor within the organisation who will be responsible for liaising with the Professional Fellow throughout their Fellowship and particularly during their residency.

More information about the role and responsibilities of sponsoring and host organisations can be found in the guidance for participating organisations.

Further information

About RLUK and The National Archives

Research Libraries UK (RLUK) represents 39 of the leading and most significant research libraries in the UK and Ireland. We aim to optimise the contribution that research libraries and collections make to the economic, technological and cultural success of the UK and Ireland. We are achieving this by working with our members, external institutions and our partners in the community, both nationally and internationally.

We are investing in and developing strategic projects, reports and innovations that are fomenting much greater engagement with, and services for, the research community we serve. These are exciting times for the research sector. We believe there is so much more that we can do together to shape collections and services in support of academic excellence.

The National Archives is a non-ministerial department and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. We are expert advisers in information and records management and are a cultural, research and heritage organisation. We fulfil a leadership role for the archives sector in England, working in partnership to encourage innovation and sustainability and secure the future of physical and digital records. As an Independent Research Organisation (IRO), we lead high quality research which seeks to innovate our practice, unlock the potential of our collections, and respond to opportunities and challenges in the academic and archive sectors.  

I​n April 2026, Baroness Twycross, Minister for Museums, Heritage and Gambling and Lords Minister, officially launched the Government’s new vision for archives. As sector lead, The National Archives will support the delivery of Archives at the Heart of Society through a series of new programmes designed to embed the vision’s themes across the sector. The vision is shaped around three core themes that will guide archive services, funders and partners across England: sustainability, accessibility and inclusivity. Together, these themes aim to support archives to become financially, environmentally and organisationally resilient; reduce barriers so collections are easier to discover and use online and in person; and ensure archives better reflect the diversity of lived experience in England by engaging communities that have historically been under-represented in collections and practice.

Our Research Vision sets out our plan of action for 2024 – 2027. It outlines our concept of what a researching archive might be: an institution that preserves the past, sustains the future, provides truly equitable access, and which travels beyond its own front doors to engage with the society of which it is part. 

For more information: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk