Are you an early career data scientist, social scientist, computer scientist, humanities scholar, or simply put, a researcher interested in working with our digital collections, which includes over 130 million pages of digitized text, born-digital content such as the web collection, and ground-truth sets? Then we’re looking for you!
The KB, National Library of the Netherlands, is seeking proposals for its fully paid Researcher-in-Residence program in 2026. This program offers a unique chance for early career researchers of all disciplines to work on-site in the library with the Digital Scholarship team and using the KB collections.
There will be two Researcher-in-Residence positions in 2026, starting Q1 and Q3, which will be carried out at the Research department of the KB. You will be assisted by experts at the KB, including research software engineers and collection specialists. The output of the project, usually a dataset or tool prototype, will be hosted on the KB Lab and is ideally beneficial for a larger (scholarly) community.
About the KB
As the national library of the Netherlands, the KB holds a broad collection of primarily textual data in the fields of Dutch history, culture and society. We aim to collect and store publications that are printed in the Netherlands, as well as a selection of international publications about the Netherlands. The KB is currently in the process of digitizing its entire collection of books, periodicals and newspapers from 1470 onward. Over 130 million books, newspapers, and magazine pages are currently digitally available via the search portals Delpher and DBNL. On top of that, we offer born-digital collections, such as our web collection which consists of more than 23.000 websites.
The KB is also active in the academic community, both as a facilitator and active player. The KB’s Research Agenda for the period 2023-2026 outlines eight themes that we aim to focus our efforts on. These relate to the KB’s collection, sources and tasks, as well as issues that go beyond our organization. The KB is also one of the co-founders of the Cultural AI Lab, which aims to accelerate excellent research on the intersection of humanities and artificial intelligence. For this collaboration, four research themes are outlined, that focus more closely on using advanced technologies for research into or using cultural heritage.
The KB's collections
Our collection of newspapers, magazines, radio bulletins and books can be browsed via Delpher and DBNL. The web collection holds born-digital data, often collected around a specific theme. We also offer ground-truth sets and derived datasets on our KB Lab, many of which originate from previous Researcher-in-Residence projects. In addition, we offer metadata, some of which as Linked Data. These datasets contain, among others, bio- and bibliographical metadata, and keywords for subject cataloguing.
What are we looking for?
For the Researcher-in-Residence program, we invite innovative research projects that make use of our digital collections and align with our Research Agenda. We are looking for:
- A passionate (early career) researcher with relevant expertise
- An original and innovative research question and/or approach
- A practically and technically feasible proposal, including an action plan
Conditions of eligibility
We require that:
- You have an affiliation with a university or research institute in the Netherlands which is willing to second you. Either:
- employed as an academic researcher at a university or research institute within the Netherlands that is willing to second you, or,
- an external PhD student, able to use the funding to obtain a contract at a university or research institute within the Netherlands that is willing to second you.
- Your project makes use of one (or more) of the digital collections of the KB, such as newspapers, magazines, the web collection, ground-truth sets, metadata including Linked Data, or other collections (see our Data services).
- You are able to work with (primarily) Dutch data.
- You are available for 0.5 FTE over a period of 6 months and able to spend two days a week on-site at the KB premises.
- Your proposal can be linked to the topics of existing KB activities and research, such as the KB Research Agenda or the Cultural AI Lab.
- Your proposal depends on collaboration with the KB and explains where and how you work together with the KB team.
- You agree to publicly share the results and/or conclusions of your research through blog posts on KB Lab, as well as publish resulting tools or data under an open license within 6 months after the end of the residency, unless otherwise discussed.
The KB values the diversity of the people it hires and serves. Diversity at our organization means fostering a workplace in which individual differences are recognized, appreciated, respected, and responded to in ways that fully develop and utilize each person’s talents and strengths.
What can we offer you?
- A secondment for 0.5 FTE for a period of 6 months based on your current salary with a max. of 4.789 Euro gross per month for a full-time position.
- Access to the KB’s collections and expertise.
- Office facilities.
- Travel expenses.
- Support from a research software engineer, research advisor, and collection and data specialists.
How do I apply?
Please use the template to formulate your research proposal and submit this as a pdf before 30 September 2025 via the email address [email protected], after having carefully read our terms and conditions.
Please do not hesitate to contact [email protected] with questions regarding eligibility, project details, prerequisites, and KB support.
Review process
In an initial internal review round, the KB Digital Scholarship team will check proposals on eligibility.
In the second review round, proposals will be reviewed by an external committee of representative experts with backgrounds in relevant fields from several Dutch universities and institutions.
All entries will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Originality and quality
- Feasibility (technically, legally, and practically)
- How the KB data will be showcased & whether the results are of use for a wider community
- Relevancy to the topics of existing KB activities or research
You will be notified of the outcome of this call in November 2026.
For answers to more questions, read our FAQ. Please also read the terms of this call and placement.