The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the national record of nearly 60,000 men and women (all deceased) who shaped British history and culture—in the British Isles and overseas—from the Roman period to the present day.

The Dictionary is a research and publishing project of the University of Oxford’s History Faculty and Oxford University Press, with a staff of academic editors and publishers. The ODNB’s General Editor is the historian, Professor Sir David Cannadine.

First published in print and online in 2004, the Oxford DNB is now regularly updated online with new biographies and thematic content published in January, May, and September of each year. With more than 11,200 portraits, the ODNB is also the largest published collection of British portraiture, researched in association with the National Portrait Gallery, London.

In 2015 the ODNB will make available two research bursaries funded by OUP. The bursaries are intended, via a defined research project, to promote further imaginative investigation of the Dictionary’s content in ways that add to our understanding of the British past.

The Dictionary is looking to award two research bursaries to begin in September 2015 and to run during the academic year 2015-16. In each case, the successful candidate will work on a defined research project that draws on an aspect of the Oxford DNB’s content, be this in the form of Dictionary entries, portrait images, or other biographical data. It is expected that successful applications will take the form either of a discrete piece of research or form part of a larger project in the humanities, such as a PhD dissertation, journal article, book or teaching resources.

Each bursary will be for the sum of £750, which is intended to assist in undertaking the research project (for example, with travel/accommodation when visiting the Dictionary’s office in Oxford, or to libraries and archives). Bursary recipients will engage with the Dictionary’s academic editors and OUP staff during the course of the award.

Successful applicants will be required to write a case study of their work for publication on the ODNB’s website, as well as an essay for OUP’s academic blog. The award is conditional on acceptance of these terms and conditions. It is also expected that research will lead to additional outputs: for example, a seminar or conference paper (at Oxford or elsewhere), a journal article, an online or visual presentation of research findings, a teaching resource for an HEI.

For full details and to apply, please visit: http://global.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/news/researchbursaries

Applications close on Sunday 31 May, 2015.