The Adshead Award is available to academic researchers in the field of Quaker studies. To apply you must be registered in a university postgraduate programme. We favour applicants who are relatively early in their study (e.g. in the first two years of a full-time PhD).

This scholarship is being revived in a more flexible way having been suspended during the pandemic years 2020–2022.

Previous scholars have used the award to devote some residential time in the Quaker library at Woodbrooke. However, we have widened the scheme to allow for access to a much broader range of physical archive locations. We expect that the Library of the Religious Society of Friends in London will be especially useful to many researchers, but we are open to considering applications for travel to and accommodation near any archive relevant to your work.

The successful applicant will receive up to a maximum £600 (or equivalent for non-sterling applications) for 2023.

To be considered for an award you should complete the application form available on the Quaker Studies Research Association website: https://www.qsra.org/david-adshead-visiting-scholarship.html. You have the option of downloading the Word document or using a Google form. Should you have any technical issues, please contact us at qsraofficers@gmail.com.

This application will help us determine how the scholarship could help you at this stage of your studies.

Your plan will include information on what you see as your academic requirements as well as your need for financial support.

Please return your application to Judith Roads, QSRA convenor at roads4@me.com if using the Word document.

The deadline for applications in 2023 is 19 December.

Before applying, you may wish to have a conversation with Ben Pink Dandelion. This can be arranged by emailing him directly at b.p.dandelion@bham.ac.uk.

If your application is successful, you will be sent the award by bank transfer and will need to book travel, accommodation and library access yourself. If you are expecting to use the Library of the Religious Society of Friends in London you will need to arrange times to access specific resources directly with them. There are a number of options for accommodation which should allow you to stay for four to five nights in London, depending on the time of year, within the amount given by the award.

Here is a small selection near Friends House, Euston, London NW1 2BJ:

Bedford Hotel, 83, 95 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4HD https://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/hotels/bedford-hotel

Premier Inn, Euston, 1 Duke’s Rd, London WC1H 9PJ https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-euston.html

Tavistock Hotel, 48-55 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9EU https://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/hotels/tavistock-hotel Slightly further from Friends House (London, zone 2):

The Royal Foundation of St Katherine, 2 Butcher Row, London E14 8DS https://www.rfsk.org.uk/

After your visit to the archive of your choice, the recipient of the award is expected to report on the use you made of the money

This should include reporting the sums spent and on what, and commenting on the contribution the award made to your work. This report allows us to monitor the success of the award, especially under these new arrangements.