Professional Development

Conferences, seminars and courses

Professional language courses

Expert / consultant visits

Site visits

Funding for individuals is available to Jewish heritage professionals (archivists, librarians, conservators, curators, educators, cataloguers, etc) who work professionally in a museum, archive, library or other heritage organisation with a significant Jewish collection.

The work may be part-time but should constitute at least 16 hours per week. They must be based in a European country and have at least 6 months of experience working professionally in the field of Jewish heritage.

For organisations making an application, their activities must be deemed charitable under UK charity law. This includes organisations which are either not-for-profit or publicly funded e.g., state or private libraries, archives, museums, research institutes, or universities. For more information, please consult the UK’s Charity Commission website and its list of Charitable Purposes. 

We will provide funding for a staff member who works with a European Jewish collection to attend a professional conference or participate in a seminar or specialist training course. We will provide up to £1000 to cover the cost of the conference, seminar or course fees, travel and accommodation.

Applications can be made by the individual and reimbursement will be made directly to the applicant’s organisation. You will need to upload evidence of expenditure to your online account e.g., invoice and receipts.

For Jewish heritage professionals to improve their working knowledge of Hebrew or any other Jewish language relevant to their work e.g., Yiddish, Judeo-Spanish, etc. Grants of up to £2000 are available to cover tuition and will be paid directly to the language school upon receipt of an invoice.

Applications can be made by the individual and you will need to upload the invoice to your online account.

The course must be administered by an institution, whether university, community centre or language school and a certificate of attendance must be made available on completion of the course when we will also request a short evaluation of the course. Courses can be taken online or in person.

European Jewish institutions can receive professional advice or guidance from an expert in their field to help them manage their collections, strengthen underdeveloped activities or seek strategic advice for their organisation. This may include advice in areas like cataloguing, digitisation, conservation, exhibition design, educational programming or any aspect that is relevant to the institution’s activities. Grants of up to £2000 will be available to cover the expert’s fee and travel expenses against receipts.

For expert visits and consultations linked to a particular project please see our Collection Management category.

Applications must be made by the organisation and payment will be made directly to the expert once the report has been received and submitted. The expert will need to complete an expenses form and provide evidence of expenditure e.g., invoice and receipts.

Opportunities for archival, museum or library staff members to meet with peers based at other European institutions. This may be for specific skills development or to learn about best practice in areas related to their work. We will provide up to £1000 towards travel and accommodation costs.

Applications must be made by the organisation and payment will be made directly to the organisation. You will need to upload evidence of expenditure to your online account e.g., invoice and receipts.  

If you wish to develop a professional development training programme for the staff in your institution, please contact us before submitting an application.

The training programme must improve the professional skills of your staff in their work relating to Jewish materials. This may include setting up an intensive training/mentoring programme for one person to ensure they have the necessary skills for succession purposes.

We will also consider requests to enrol staff on a course run by another academic or professional institution for them to gain a qualification in a specific area.

The maximum level of funding that will be considered is for requests up to £50,000 per year for up to 3 years (maximum total of £150,000 over 3 years).

We do not fund retroactively and will not consider a request for funding for an activity that has already happened or is scheduled to happen while the application for funding is being considered.

You may be required to submit some or all of the following with your application. If it is requested and not included, your application cannot be considered.

1. Letter of support: for conferences, courses and seminars and professional language courses, we will require a letter of support from the individual’s supervisor.
2. Proof of Charitable Status: This will vary from country to country and according to the type of organisation making the application. This may be a UK charity number where applicable. If your organisation is a publicly funded body, such as a university, research centre or museum, we will accept a copy of the relevant portion of the organisation’s statutes as proof of its charitable status.
3. Professional CV (maximum 2 pages for each staff member): This should reflect their experience in undertaking activities such as the one outlined in this application. Qualifications include professional certificates, university diplomas, and relevant experience. Please combine all the CVs into one document before uploading it.

Translations: For documents not originally written in English please include an English translation. This does not need to be an official translation, but it must be clear and accurate. Documents in a language other than English that are not accompanied by an English translation will not be processed.

This grant category is open on a rolling 2 month basis throughout the year. You should expect notification via email letting you know whether your application has been successful or unsuccessful. For submission and decision dates visit our website.

If your application is approved, you will receive an official Grant Offer Letter together with an Award Agreement which you will need to e-sign and return with the necessary supporting documentation.

For guidance on starting and completing an application as well as our requirements for ensuring safeguarding and open access, please visit our website.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further information or advice as you prepare your application.

For queries relating to this grant category please contact Rebecca Singer (r.singer@rothschildfoundation.eu) or Dr Brigitte Sion (b.sion@rothschildfoundation.eu)

For any other information including technical support please contact info@rothschildfoundation.eu)

Please add the following emails to your contacts/safe senders list to ensure you receive all our communications regarding your application and grant notification: mailuk@grantapplication.com; mail@grantapplication.com; adobesign@adobesign.com 

This grant category is open on a rolling basis throughout the year. You can find submission / decision dates here.

If you work professionally in a Jewish organization, including (but not limited to) youth organisations, Jewish Community Centres (JCCs), synagogues, welfare and cultural organisations and are interested in learning Hebrew or other Jewish skills and knowledge for your work, you might be eligible to apply to Yesod’s Professional Development Fund.