The University of Chicago Library, in partnership with the SHARED project, offers a fellowship for graduate students who want to develop expertise in research data curation, FAIR practices, and repository infrastructure through a self-directed scholarly project. The Library provides mentorship, infrastructure access, and support; you define the project and drive its direction.
Fellows have opportunities to engage in the broader life of the Center for Digital Scholarship, including workshops, research consultations, and staff practice.
What the fellowship offers:
- A dedicated fellowship mentor from the Research Data Services team who will support you in shaping and carrying out your project
- Access to the Library’s data infrastructure, repository systems, and consultation practice as resources for your work
- The opportunity to design your own project exploring a question in data curation, FAIR principles, repository workflows, or open scholarship
- Optional participation in workshop planning, research consultations, and other Research Data Services activities as they connect to your project or interests
- Professional development in skills transferable to careers in academia, data science, libraries, or research administration
Your project:
At the center of this fellowship is a project you propose and develop over the course of the year, in consultation with your mentor. Past and possible directions might include (but are not limited to):
- Investigating FAIR practices or reuse potential within a specific disciplinary dataset or archive
- Prototyping or evaluating a metadata schema, workflow, or tool for a research data challenge
- Studying researcher data practices in a particular field and proposing service or infrastructure improvements
- Producing a curated, well-documented dataset or repository deposit as a model case study
- Any project that meaningfully engages FAIR data principles and connects to your own research or career trajectory
You’ll have flexibility to define the scope and methods with your mentor’s guidance, and a supportive structure to test ideas.
Who should apply:
- Enrolled in a University of Chicago graduate program, in good academic standing throughout the fellowship
- Genuine interest in research data services, curation, open scholarship, or repository infrastructure, whatever your home discipline
- Some familiarity with data management concepts (data modeling, metadata, or repository systems) is helpful but not required; curiosity and willingness to learn matter more
- Strong communication skills and comfort working collaboratively in a service-oriented environment
Commitment:
This is a flexible commitment across Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters (Fall 2026 start), structured around project milestones rather than fixed weekly hours, so you can integrate the fellowship with your own research and coursework.
Stipend: $3,800 per quarter (Autumn, Winter, Spring)
To apply:
Submit a resume and a short cover letter describing a data curation, FAIR practices, or repository project you’d like to pursue, along with any relevant coursework or experience, to Lisa Chinn, Head of Research Data Services, at lisachinn@uchicago.edu.
Application Deadline:
August 31, 2026
Fellowship Contact:
lisachinn@uchicago.edu