By Dr. Lucy Hinnie
The Heritage Lab and Wikimedia UK are pleased to announce a new collaboration in 2025, involving research fellows from across the UK GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) sector. The Heritage Lab is a digital platform focused on ‘sharing stories and resources from museums around the world, with a focus on South Asian art, history and culture’.
Funded by Wikimedia UK, The Heritage Lab and Wikimedia UK will bring together UK GLAMs with India-based collections together with emerging South Asian scholars.
We invite researchers and curators from the UK and India to apply for short fellowships to develop multimedia stories with fresh perspectives on collections, with a focus on under-represented histories. Expected outputs include short essays, digital storytelling workshops and facilitating Wikimedia contributions. Please note that any GLAMs involved should be based in the UK, while 50% of the fellows cohort will also be UK-based.
What are we looking for?
- Early stage researchers or curators based at GLAM institutions with an interest in digital storytelling, underrepresented histories and South Asian culture.
- A time commitment of around 2-4 hours a week for six months
- A willingness to undertake a maximum of three short essay output
- No prior Wiki experience is required or expected
What are we offering?
- A series of digital storytelling workshops and Wiki editing events over the course of the fellowship
- Full support and training from digital experts such as Wikimedia UK
- A payment of £300 per essay, up to three essays (minimum 1200 word after edits*) per scholar
- Fortnightly research support sessions
- Connection to a wide network of like-minded GLAM professionals throughout the UK
Selection
Applications will be reviewed by The Heritage Lab and Wikimedia UK.
Timeframe
The project is expected to run from late March to the end of August 2025
Get involved
Please complete this form to express your interest in becoming a fellow.
Requirements:
- Interested in Wikimedia UK’s mission, The Heritage Lab & its projects
- Passionate about India’s voice in the world & believe in a transparent work ethic
- Have demonstrated experience in research and creative skills such as writing / illustration / audio-video production or other multimedia skills.
- Comfortable working digitally (attending online meet-ups, shared documents etc).
- Proactive and comfortable working individually or within a group.
Nice to have:
- Multilingual skills : English, Hindi and other Indian languages
- Experience in creating arts/ culture / history based learning material
- Experience with community organising or facilitating collaborations
- Experience in hosting workshops or learning sessions for larger groups
Team
The project team is led by Medhavi Gandhi, founder of the Heritage Lab, and supported by Dr Lucy Hinnie, from Wikimedia UK. Medhavi is the founder of The Heritage Lab, working at the intersection of public engagement with cultural heritage, social development and education since 2009. She has worked with a wide range of Indian organisations as well as global partners. Lucy has experience as the Wikimedian in Residence at the University of Leeds and the British Library, a Digital Research Fellow at the GLAM-E Lab, and a Digital Skills Wikimedian for the highly successful Connected Heritage Project (2021-23).
Get in touch
If you have any questions regarding availability or requirements for this fellowship, please email programmes@wikimedia.org.uk.
Medhavi can be contacted at medhavi@theheritagelab.in while Lucy is reachable via: lucy.hinnie@wikimedia.org.uk