CES believes very strongly that a vital part of the training of future Europeanists is the ability to conduct fieldwork in the region. Thanks to an endowment originally provided by the Krupp Foundation, the Center is able to provide a year of support for dissertation research abroad to large numbers of students as well as summer grants for graduate students who are in the preliminary stages of choosing a topic or who, at a late stage in writing, would benefit from a short trip to do final archival work or interviews. CES also offers a small number of Dissertation Writing Fellowships to students who are in the final year of completing their dissertations.


Graduate Summer Travel Grants

Purpose: Graduate Summer Travel Grants fund summer research in Europe for Harvard and MIT doctoral students writing dissertations on political, historical, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual trends in modern or contemporary Europe (roughly 1750 – present). These grants are intended for students who have formulated a dissertation topic but do not require a long period of research abroad.

Eligibility: CES Graduate Affiliates who do not currently hold a fellowship from CES may apply. Opportunity grants are competitive and applications are considered once each semester; students may be awarded only one opportunity grant per academic year. Students without CES affiliation are not eligible to apply.

Award: The maximum award is $6,000. Funding is provided by the Krupp Foundation and by the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. The amount of funds is limited, and applicants are urged to apply to other sources as well in order to meet full travel costs. In some cases, funding will be shared with other centers and grant programs, but the total award will not exceed $6,000.

Students are strongly encouraged to consult Scholarly Pursuits, published by Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, which contains advice on writing a proposal as well as samples of winning proposals. Students should also consult Przeworski and Salomon's The Art of Writing Proposals, available online from the Social Science Research Council.

Deadline: The deadline for application receipt at CES is February 29, 2008 at 5:00 PM. CES uses the GSAS standard Graduate Summer Travel Grants application form. This form and the appropriate cover sheet will be available from the GSAS Fellowships web site by December. Please check back soon. For further information, please contact Christy Colburn


Ariadne Graduate Summer Travel Grants to Greece

Purpose: Ariadne Graduate Summer Travel Grants are available to fund summer research in Greece for students writing dissertations on political, historical, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual trends in modern or contemporary Greece.

Eligibility: Harvard doctoral students in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences may apply. Recipients must have completed two years of graduate school and have passed their general examinations. Grants must be used for research abroad during the summer break, and may not be used for language study, for expenses in the US, for special equipment such as tape recorders, or for fees for transcription or translation. Applicants are expected to review discount student travel resources for housing and airfare, and should be aware that these book quickly and prices may change; applicants should not plan to update the budget after it has been submitted.

Award: The maximum award is $6,000. Funding is provided by a gift from the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Center for European Studies.

Deadline: The deadline for application receipt at CES is February 29, 2008 at 5:00 PM. CES uses the GSAS standard Graduate Summer Travel Grants application form. This form and the appropriate cover sheet will be available from the GSAS Fellowships web site by December. Please check back soon. For further information, please contact Christy Colburn


Graduate Dissertation Research Fellowships

Purpose: Graduate Dissertation Research Fellowships fund doctoral students from Harvard and MIT in the social sciences who plan to spend six to twelve months in Europe conducting dissertation research. Topics should focus on political, historical, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual trends, and public policy in modern or contemporary Europe (roughly 1750 – present).

Eligibility: Harvard doctoral students and MIT doctoral students in the social sciences may apply. Applicants must have completed two years of graduate school and have passed their general examinations, but they can be at any stage of research. Students may not hold both a CES graduate dissertation research fellowship and a CES summer travel grant during the same year. Students should decide which CES grant is best suited to their current situation, and apply for that one.

Award: A graduate dissertation research fellowship provides $24,000 annually and can be used to supplement external (non-Harvard) grants to a level not to exceed $30,000. In some cases, half-grants are awarded. The fellowship cannot be deferred and must be used within the twelve-month period for which it is awarded (July 2008 – June 2009). Funding is provided by the Krupp Foundation and by the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. In some cases, funding will be shared with other centers and grant programs.

Students are strongly encouraged to consult Scholarly Pursuits, published by Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, which contains advice on writing a proposal as well as samples of winning proposals. Students should also consult Przeworski and Salomon's The Art of Writing Proposals, available online from the Social Science Research Council.

Deadline: The deadline for application receipt at CES is March 17, 2008 at 5:00 PM. Application in pdf format available here. For further information, please contact Christy Colburn


Graduate Dissertation Writing Fellowships

Purpose: Graduate Dissertation Writing Fellowships support doctoral candidates as they complete their dissertations. The award allows students to spend a final year dedicated to writing. The dissertation must focus on modern or contemporary Europe (roughly 1750 – present)

Eligibility: Advanced Harvard doctoral students in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and MIT doctoral students in history, the social sciences, or cultural studies may apply. Students must have completed two draft dissertation chapters and submitted them to the dissertation advisor at the time of application (or for students in fields where the dissertation consists of three articles, the existence of one article in draft). Applications will be judged by their overall merit, the importance of the topic, the clarity of the proposal, the potential for scholarly contribution, and the likelihood of timely completion.

Award: The stipend of $20,000 cannot be deferred and must be used within the twelve-month period for which it is awarded (July 2008 – June 2009). No other employment, beyond serving as an advisor for an undergraduate senior thesis or working as a part-time research assistant, is allowed under the grant, as students are expected to complete their dissertation during the period of the award. Students who have previously received writing/completion grants from other sources are not eligible. The fellowship covers Harvard facilities fees and individual health insurance. Office space at CES will be provided.

Deadline: The deadline for application receipt at CES is February 29, 2008 at 5:00 PM. CES uses the GSAS standard Dissertation Completion application form. This form and the appropriate cover sheet will be available from the GSAS Fellowships web site by December. Please check back soon. For further information, please contact Christy Colburn


CES Opportunity Grants

Purpose: These are small grants to be used to defray the cost of travel associated with giving a conference paper or talk, or for expenses related to research such as buying data or hiring assistants to help code or enter data. Students may also apply to use the grants for short-term research abroad, but those applications will be given the lowest priority since funds are limited (students are strongly encouraged to instead apply for a summer travel grant).

Eligibility: CES Graduate Affiliates who do not currently hold a fellowship from CES may apply. Opportunity grants are competitive and applications are considered once each semester. Students without CES affiliation are not eligible to apply.

Award: up to $500

Deadline: Applications are accepted once per semester. The deadline for Fall semester is December 19, 2007. The deadline for spring semester is April 1, 2008. To apply, fill out an online application here. The letter should state the amount of money requested, the name of the conference, an abstract of the paper being presented or, in the case of data, the nature of the data to be acquired or coded and its relation to the applicant's dissertation.



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