Students

Nurturing the research of graduate and undergraduate students is one of the Weatherhead Center’s highest priorities. Weatherhead helps students financially and intellectually by supporting their research and by encouraging and facilitating collaboration among students and other Center affiliates including faculty, fellows, and visiting scholars. In addition, the Center encourages students to participate in its seminars and conferences. The scholarly community hopes that Harvard students and young scholars find the Center to be a significant intellectual resource for expanding and refining their research interests.

Student affiliation comes with several privileges and services. Students can apply for various Weatherhead student grants, propose and organize student conferences, apply to participate in programs and research clusters, and much more. 

In the 2025–2026 academic year, the Center is sponsoring research for eighty-nine Harvard graduate students through its pre-and mid-dissertation, foreign language study, dissertation writing, and Canada program grants. Their academic areas, as displayed in the graph below, include African and African American Studies, Government, History, History of Science, Religion, Sociology, Middle Eastern Studies, Anthropology, Economics, the Graduate School of Education, the Kennedy School, the Law School, and the Graduate School of Design, among others. Graduate students are supported through other forms of fellowships as well. (see Opportunities for Graduate Students).

Graduate Students

In addition, Weatherhead runs a residential program for twenty-four Graduate Student Associates (GSAs). These students receive up to $2,500 for conference and research expenses related to dissertation research and professional development. The GSAs are central to the Center’s mission of research development and are major contributors to the Center’s interdisciplinary missions. Erez Manela (Department of History) has directed the GSA Program since 2009 and, together with staff member Clare Putnam, coordinates a weekly seminar where students share their research with one another.

Undergraduate Students

The undergraduate program is run by Christoph Mikulaschek (Department of Government) in collaboration with Clare Putnam. Our existing programming includes senior thesis summer research support, sponsorship of travel—when University-supported travel is permitted—for academic purposes, and funding for conferences where students interact with international affairs scholars and practitioners. In the 2025–2026 academic year, the Center is sponsoring research for twenty Harvard undergraduate students through its Summer Travel Grants and Undergraduate Associates Program. Weatherhead advisory committee member Kenneth I. Juster ‘76 supports 6–8 undergraduate Juster Fellows each year for thesis research, pre-thesis research, or internships between semesters in December or January.

The Undergraduate Associates who receive funding for summer research receive additional support by being trained and mentored by a Graduate Student Associate (GSA) starting in the spring of their junior year. This support includes guidance on how to prepare proposals, approach field research, and commence writing. The Undergraduate Associates also receive training in the ethics of conducting research abroad. They present their research at our annual Undergraduate Thesis Conference, which is held this academic year on February 5–6, 2026.