Visiting Scholars Program

The visitors program offers research, training, and professional development opportunities for junior and senior scholars whose research relates to Eurasia.

Eligibility & Benefits

  • Both junior and senior scholars are encouraged to apply;
  • Citizens of all countries are eligible;
  • Research proposals must focus on topics related to Eurasia; 
    • Eurasia includes the following regions: the Baltics, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
  • Scholars must secure external funding;
    • Commonly, scholars receive support from their home institutions or through external grant sources such as Fulbright or Marie Curie;
  • Borrowing privileges at Harvard libraries;
  • Special invitations to visitors-only events and other opportunities;
  • In some cases, visitors may receive shared office space at the Davis Center.

Note that this position is unpaid and not eligible for Harvard employee benefits. 

If you are an early-career scholar and seek a funded position, please consider applying to our Postdoctoral Fellowships. If you are a Georgian scholar and seek a funded position, please consider applying for grants offered through the Program on Georgian Studies

How to Apply

If you are a faculty member on leave from another institution or have already received your Ph.D., your affiliation would be "visiting scholar." If you are a Ph.D. candidate or do not yet have a Ph.D., your affiliation would be "fellow." 

You can apply to become a visiting scholar or fellow here. 

Available Visit Durations & Times

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis to one or more of the following terms:

  • Fall term (September through December)
  • Spring term (January through May)
  • Both Fall and Spring terms

We are at maximum capacity for the 2023-2024 academic year. We are now accepting applications for Fall 2024 and beyond. Please apply early because the positions fill up quickly. 

Letters of Support for External Funding

If you are seeking a letter of support to secure external funding (e.g., Fulbright, Bolashak, Marie Curie), please allow a minimum of six weeks from the time you submit your initial application to the Davis Center. 

Current Visitors

Learn more about our 2023-2024 visiting scholarsfellows, senior fellows, and postdocs.

Related Insights

Davis Center visiting scholar Rahat Sabyrbekov explores the region’s climate change challenges, spotlighting original work on decarbonization efforts in the region.

Economist Andrei Yakovlev considers three possible drivers behind Russia’s latest redistribution of property.

Data from 30 years of U.N. votes show significantly more alignment with Sino-Russian policy positions than with those held by the U.S., writes Davis Center summer visiting scholar Dmitriy Nurullayev.

Related Events

Upcoming Event

Two nights of performance draw on censored Soviet-era texts by iconic singer-songwriters Okudzhava and Vysotsky to explore intergenerational trauma in refugee experience and illuminate the sublime social power of poetic practices.

Upcoming Event

Irina Busygina will present the key arguments from her recently published book “Non-Democratic Federalism and Decentralization: A post-Soviet Perspective” (Routledge, November 2023, co-authored with Mikhail Filippov).

Past Event

Busygina will give an overview of ideas and plans for a post-Putin Russia percolating among Russians who have left the country.