Welcome to the RSVP page dedicated to Graduate Students and Independent Periodicals Scholars (GRIPS)! Our scholarly community actively encourages participation from anyone with an interest in Victorian periodicals. Our members include graduate students, early-career researchers, established academics, and retired and independent scholars – all of whom take part in our lively annual conferences and many other events. If you’re new to RSVP, you can learn more about the Society here.
New members to our society describe RSVP as a warm, inclusive, and welcoming environment for postgraduate students and independent scholars to develop their research and professional skills. The connections developed at our conferences are lifelong ones!
On this page, you will find links and information on the many ways RSVP supports graduate students, postgraduate researchers, independent scholars, and other early career periodicals scholars. You will also find some testimonies from GRIPS members explaining how RSVP has encouraged and supported their scholarship.
We hope you find this page useful. Please contact us; we would love to hear from you! If you have any questions about the Society, the information on this page, or if you are looking to get involved please let us know.
Once again, welcome. We hope to see you at future events!
Funding & Awards
RSVP offers a range of funding opportunities geared towards early career researchers. This includes:
Curran Fellowships
At least six Curran Fellowships are granted annually and postgraduates, early-career scholars, and independent researchers are regular winners of this award.
Sally Mitchell Dissertation Prize
This prize is awarded annually to the best PhD dissertation that explores the British Periodical Press from the long nineteenth century.
The VanArsdel Prize
This prize is annually awarded to the best graduate student essay. The winner receives $500 and the publications of their submission in Victorian Periodicals Review.
VPR Expanding the
Field Prize
This prize is annually awarded to an outstanding essay that diversifies the existing geographic, racial, and ethnic composition of nineteenth-century periodical studies. Both the 2022 and 2023 winners of the VPR Expanding the Field Prize were postgraduate members of RSVP.
Resources
RSVP provides a range of resources to support the professionalization of emerging scholars, including:
A Grad Newsletter
We send out a tri-annual newsletter that shares opportunities of interest to Graduate Researchers and Independent Periodicals Scholars. If you are interested in being added to this email list please email the Communications Coordinator (communications@rs4vp.org).
In-Person Workshops
We often host in-person workshops at the annual conference. For example, at the 2024 conference in Stirling we organized a workshop entitled “Life After Academia: Alternative Career Paths for Periodical Scholars” and prepared a resource summarizing some of the topics discussed at this event.
Digital Events
Many of our monthly digital events discuss topics relevant to early career researchers, like preparing grant applications, research resources, and academic publishing. We have recorded many of these sessions and they are available for review on RSVP’s YouTube channel. Some examples include:
- Russell Wyland leading a workshop on writing effective grant applications for RSVP’s Curran Fellowships
- Marie Léger-St-Jean leading a workshop on using Zotero to organize your research
- This roundtable of independent scholars reflecting on conducting research as an independent scholar
- An informal round-table led by grad students in 2021 (that was not recorded in support of open discussion), who brainstormed a list of periodical resources and discussed how to optimize your research process
Opportunities
RSVP regularly showcases the research of postgraduates and independent scholars in:
Victorian Periodicals Review
Some recent publications by postgraduate researchers and independent periodicals include PhD Candidate Jasper Heeks and Independent Scholar Andrea Stewart in the Summer 2023 Issue of VPR.
RSVP Conference
Many graduate students, postgraduate researchers, and independent scholars present in stimulating panels on cutting edge periodicals research alongside seasoned scholars from around the world. We also offer limited travel awards for those who may need financial assistance to attend the conference in person.
Regular Digital Events
Post-graduates are often invited to participate in our monthly Digital Events, which are promoted to our international membership, on our social media channels, and to similar research societies. A great example of this type of event is a talk led by postgraduate researcher Tarini Bhamburkar on “Characterising the ‘New Indian Woman.’”
Testimonials
We are in the process of soliciting some testimonials from current and past postgrads and independent scholars to speak on their experiences with RSVP, so stay tuned!