Visiting Research Fellows

The Graduate Institute hosts university professors, lecturers, researchers and senior staff members from international organisations, with independent funding, keen to carry out research and take advantage of the resources and services the Institute has to offer (library, interaction with faculty members and students) and its unique location in the heart of International Geneva.

Who can apply

 

The Visiting Fellowship Programme is designed for researchers at various stages in their careers – from doctoral and early career to more established researchers:

Florence-Geneva Postdoctoral Fellowship: PhD graduates in law or the social sciences who are within five years of completing their degree, from anywhere in the world (regardless of nationality and including non-EU citizens). Preference is given to applicants who have completed their doctorate within the last three years, and who do not hold a tenured or a tenure-track position in a university. More information here.

Senior Fellows in Residence: UN and EU staff members nominated by their organisation (United Nations Fellowship, European Union Fellowship), staff members from international organisations

Visiting Fellow: post-doctoral students, researchers or professors from other universities working in one of the Institute’s disciplines or areas of specialisation

Junior Visiting Fellow: doctoral students with an independent research project

 

Start your application 

Please note

 

  • The Programme is open only to self-sponsored researchers. It is therefore not possible to apply for financial aid from the Graduate Institute.
  • Affiliation is possible for a minimum of two months and up to 12 months maximum.
  • Candidates who wish to apply for the Swiss Excellence Scholarship, or any other grant, and thus require a letter of recommendation from one of our professors, must be affiliated with one of our programmes. They therefore need to follow the application process above.
  • Working space for visiting fellows or senior fellows in residence is subject to availability within specific academic departments or research centres. Junior visiting fellows may work in the Library.

Benefits

 

  • Access to library resources

  • Access to IT services (Institute e-mail address, IT account, WiFi network)

  • Interaction facilitated by a professor responsible for liaison between the faculty and students and working in the same or a similar field of research

  • Access to events organised by the Institute: conferences, roundtables, etc

  • In some cases, possibility to present personal research work in a seminar

TESTIMONIALS

Benedikt Behlert, Junior Visiting Fellow at International Law Department (September 2019 - January 2020)

My four months as Junior Visiting Fellow at the International Law Department were exciting, stimulating and full of benefit for my PhD project which seeks to answer the question whether international human rights law requires states to have in place administrative procedures. As an important part of my research, I seek inspiration in German constitutional rights doctrine. In order to avoid being too heavily influenced by my own background, I wanted to spend some months in an international research environment where I could test my ideas with as many people from different jurisdictions as possible. With its diverse and world-renowned faculty and its even more diverse student body, the IHEID was the just the right place for me to challenge my ideas and develop my arguments for an international audience. I am certain that my final thesis will reflect the fantastic input I received in many inspiring conversations with faculty members and fellow PhD students.

Check out also Benedikt's testimonial on Sylff Association

Caixia Wang, Junior Visiting Fellow at International Economics Department (October 2019 - October 2020)

I come from College of Public Administration at Jilin University in Northeast China, visiting the Graduate Institute for one year. Its excellence lies in details, in people and in the unseen, I find it through daily contact by auditing courses, attending seminars and doing research. During interactions with the community, what impress me most are students’ creativity, faculty’s inclusiveness, administrative staff’s responsibility, technical staff’s professionalism and other workers’ friendliness. I like its academic environment, wherever you go, library, restaurant and kitchen, people are doing or talking about research. There are some people who teach me a lot, I feel grateful for classic papers that they recommend, for academic enlightenment that they guide, and for life experience that they share. I thank those friends who teach me something, talk with me, and give me smile, hope all is well with them in this unprecedented period here. 

More information

 

Visiting Fellow Portal

How to best organise your stay: Practical information

Contact US
 

Elisabeth Cini

Elisabeth Cini
Visiting Fellows Coordinator
visiting@graduateinstitute.ch
022 908 43 83 

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