The Chevening Southeast Europe British Library Fellowship brings a mid-career specialist to the British Library in London for twelve months. Chevening runs it with funding from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the British Library hosts the fellow.
The fellow works on the Library’s Southeast European collections, enriching catalogue records, carrying out research, and producing accessible guides to the material. Chevening relaunched its British Library fellowships in March 2026, alongside a parallel fellowship for the British Overseas Territories in the Atlantic and Caribbean.
The 2026/27 round closed on 15 May 2026. Chevening has since taken the programme page offline, and no new round is published.
Benefits & funding
- Living expenses are covered for the twelve-month placement.
- Return economy airfare between the fellow’s country and the UK.
- An allowance for fellowship-related activities.
- Up to £1,000 for approved project-related expenses.
Eligibility
- Open to citizens of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey.
- Chevening fellowships are aimed at mid-career professionals who have already reached a position of influence.
- The general Chevening fellowship minimum is five years of relevant work experience, equal to 7,200 hours; Chevening notes that individual programmes may set a different or additional requirement, and this programme’s own figure is not published while its page is offline.
- Applicants must demonstrate the potential to rise to a position of leadership and influence.
- Applicants must return to their country of citizenship for at least one year after the fellowship ends.
- British and dual British citizens are not eligible, apart from citizens of a British Overseas Territory.
- Anyone who has received UK Government scholarship funding, including Chevening, within the last five years is not eligible.
- Employees and close relatives of the FCDO, British embassies, the British Council, or a sponsoring university, employed within the last two years, are excluded.
- Chevening sets no fixed degree requirement for fellowships; fellows usually have completed some higher education.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Eligible nationalities
Albania · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Kosovo · Moldova · Montenegro · North Macedonia · Serbia · Türkiye
Experience required
≥ 5 yrs
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Application process
- 1Watch Chevening’s fellowship directory for the programme page to return, since the fellowship is not listed there now.
- 2Read the general fellowship eligibility and work experience pages, then check the programme-specific criteria published with the new round.
- 3Record every relevant employment period in the online work experience section, up to fifteen separate entries.
- 4Submit the online application before the deadline Chevening publishes for the new round.
Program timeline
Chevening announces the relaunched British Library fellowships
Mar 9, 2026
Application deadline for the 2026/27 round
May 15, 2026
Next round
not yet announced; the programme page is currently offline