National Library of France - Call for researchers

What the BnF Call for Researchers offers

You become an associated researcher at the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris for one academic year, starting 1 October. You can renew this status twice, for up to three years in total. You get a dedicated academic contact in a BnF department, easier access to the collections (including rare and undescribed holdings), free or reduced entry to the reading rooms and cultural events, use of the staff restaurant, and a place in the BnF research network. The status itself is unpaid. You can also apply for one of ten research grants attached to it. Each grant is funded by a sponsor or the BnF and set each year. Amounts vary and start at about 830 EUR, with several worth around 10,000 EUR in recent years, paid in two instalments. The grants cover fixed fields such as comics, ancient history, maps, photography, art history, music, theatre history and digital humanities.

Who can apply

• Research background: You are enrolled in a research Master 2 or a doctorate (in France or abroad), or you finished one in the last three years. You also qualify as a tenured lecturer, researcher or engineer, or if you do your own research (including artistic work) with published or presented results.
• Field of study: Any subject, as long as your project relates to the BnF collections.
• Nationality: Any nationality can apply.
• Presence in Paris: You can travel to the BnF in Paris as often as your project needs.
• Not BnF staff: You are not a permanent BnF employee.
• Age: No age limit. If two applicants are equally strong, early-career researchers are preferred.

How to apply

You register and submit online through the BnF application platform. The deadline is 4 May at 12:00 (Paris time). You send a detailed CV, a research project outline (max 5 pages, in French) and a short plan for making your findings public. A jury of BnF staff and outside experts reviews the files, and the BnF president makes the final decision.

How realistic are your chances?

The status without a grant is open to any serious researcher whose project fits the BnF collections. Meeting the rules is easy, so the main hurdle is a convincing, well-focused project. The ten funded grants are far more contested. Each has only a handful of places and a set theme. If your work clearly matches one of those fields and draws on rare or undescribed holdings, your chances of a grant are much better.