Liverpool John Moores University
Outline
Nineteenth-Century Matters is an initiative jointly run by the British Association for Romantic Studies
and the British Association for Victorian Studies. Now in its tenth year, it is aimed at postdoctoral
researchers who have completed their PhD, but who are not currently employed in a full-time
academic post. Nineteenth-Century Matters offers unaffiliated early career researchers a platform
from which to pursue their research, while also organising an academic event on a theme related to
nineteenth-century studies or a workshop focused on an aspect of professionalisation. The focus of
their proposed research should be on the nineteenth century, rather than on Romanticism or
Victorianism specifically. There is no requirement for this research to relate directly to Liverpool John
Moores University’s (LJMU) institutional specialisms, but areas of interest across the long nineteenth
century, might include: periodicals and print culture; the familiar essay and its writers; publications
such as Punch magazine, its artists, contributors and illustrators, or The Strand; home and domestic
cultures; literatures of migration and mobility; travel writing; nineteenth-century life-writing;
nineteenth-century naturalism and ecocriticism; literature and medicine or psychology; afterlives and
Neo-Victorianism.
For the coming year, the Nineteenth-Century Matters Fellowship will provide the successful applicant
with affiliation at LJMU located in the Centre for Modern and Contemporary History and the
Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History. The fellowship will run from October 2026 to
September 2027. In addition to intellectual exchange and collaboration, the successful fellow will
benefit from:
▪ Access to LJMU’s library resources, both physical and digital, for the duration of the
fellowship. These include the university’s Special Collections and Archives
(https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/library/special-collections-and-archives), which present many
possible avenues for research in nineteenth-century studies. This includes an extensive
variety of printed books, periodicals, pamphlets and ephemera. Particular collections that
might be of relevance include the Punch and the Nineteenth Century Periodical Press
collection; the Liddell Hart Collection of Costume; Femorabilia, comics and magazines for
girls and women from 1850; Co-operative News and Other Co-op Papers 1871 – 1994;
Liverpool Nautical College, 1877 – 1975; Liverpool School of Art, 1837 – 2003; Marie
Correlli, The Maureen Bell Collection.
▪ Access to collaborative research groups, as relevant, including: Home and Domestic
Cultures, which brings together staff and students with interests ranging across the long
nineteenth century in all things hearth and home; These and other groups at LJMU run a
programme of research events that would offer the fellow opportunities for research
dissemination, networking and professional development.
▪ Mentorship from Dr Clare Horrocks, Senior Lecturer in Cultural History, and Dr James
Whitehead, Programme Leader for English Literature, who will offer advice on research,
professional development and public engagement, and cover earlier and later nineteenthcentury aspects of the project work respectively.
▪ Free registration to the BAVS 2027 conference and the BARS PGR & ECR 2027
conference.
▪ Access to room bookings to host in-person events.
There is no requirement for the Fellow to live in or near Liverpool during the fellowship and
permanent accommodation will not be provided as part of the fellowship. The primary purpose of
the fellowship is to enable the successful applicant to continue with an affiliation and remain part of
the academic community. It is a non-stipendiary post, and the fellow will need to support themselves
financially. The value of the fellowship is £1,500. These funds are intended to support the fellow’s
research project as they deem appropriate (paying for travel to archives, accommodation, and other
research-related costs) and to cover the organisation of a research or professionalisation event related
to their own research and/or development interests. It is also expected that the fellow will
acknowledge BARS, BAVS, and Liverpool John Moores University in any publications that arise from
their position.
Application Process
Applicants should submit a CV with a proposal of their research topic and event (maximum of two
pages), explaining how and why they would benefit from the fellowship. Applicants can propose
research on any aspect of the nineteenth century, and we are keen to encourage interdisciplinary
proposals which might include, but are not limited to: literature, history, geography, and library and
information studies. Applications should be sent to Sarah Parker (s.l.parker@lboro.ac.uk), Cleo
O’Callaghan Yeoman (cleo.o.callaghan.yeoman@stir.ac.uk) and Clare Horrocks
(C.L.Horrocks@ljmu.ac.uk). The deadline for applications is Monday 11th May 2026 (by midnight,
BST).