Astra Foundation Research Fellow in Digital Humanities

The Astra Foundation has made a gift to the Voltaire Foundation of £395,000 to fund innovative digital research, and enable the appointment of Professor Glenn Roe as the Astra Foundation Research Fellow in Digital Humanities for four years from Michaelmas 2021. Professor Roe will be overseeing the Voltaire Lab, fulfilling the Voltaire Foundation’s vision for the digital humanities in Oxford and, together with Professor Cronk, supervising a series of postdoctoral researchers who will also be funded by the Astra Foundation.

Professor Nicholas Cronk, Director of the Voltaire Foundation, said: “this transformational gift will enable the Voltaire Foundation to secure its position at the heart of digital humanities research in Oxford and internationally. We are most grateful to the Astra Foundation for its support.”

The Astra Foundation said:

We are delighted to support the Voltaire Foundation in its ambitions as a pioneer in digital enlightenment studies. With the efforts of world-leading researchers, we are excited that the works of Voltaire and other enlightenment authors will reach new audiences and engage younger generations through the outreach activities of this grant.

The Voltaire Foundation will publish the final volumes of its critically acclaimed 203-book Complete Works of Voltaire towards the end of 2021, and is now working on Digital Voltaire – a fully digital scholarly edition of Voltaire’s works, which will be available from 2024.

Established in 2020, the Astra Foundation is a UK-based family foundation. Our mission is to advance the efforts to combat loneliness in young adults, empower youth to reach their potential regardless of their circumstances, and reduce plastic pollution. The geographic focus of the foundation is the UK, France, and the African continent.