Research & Travel Grants

In addition to the Thesis Grants provided by the European Institute, European History, Politics, and Society students are encouraged to apply for research and travel grants.

As part of its Initiative on Cultural Power in International Relations, the European Institute offers the Cold War Archives Research (CWAR) Fellowship. The CWAR Fellowship offers a number of advanced undergraduate and graduate students at Columbia University the opportunity to conduct original archival research on the history of culture and the Cold War. The project was created in 2015 under the name "Radio Free Europe Research Project Fellowship" and was renamed in 2017 to "Cold War Archives Research Fellowship".

Those interested in public diplomacy, journalistic history, the Cold War, and the evolution of modern Europe will find abundant resources for productive investigations at archives they will visit with the group. After the conclusion of each research session, the students work on research papers to be presented at a conference at Columbia University in the Spring semester.

The CWAR Fellowship covers travel and accommodation for the research field sessions in the US and in Europe, in addition to support for paper presentations at related conferences.

More information can be found on the European Institute's page on Cold War Archives Research Fellowship.

Students are encouraged to apply for the Columbia University Alliance Travel Grant, which offers up to $2,000 to support special international projects. Priority is given to projects embedded in an institutional relation between Columbia University and one of its three partner universities in France (Sciences Po, Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne University, and École Polytechnique).

More information on the Alliance Travel Grant as well as external fellowships that may be of interest can be found on the Alliance website.

Eligible Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) students may apply for funding from the Graduate School Advisory Council (GSAC) to present their work at academic conferences and workshops. The grants (up to $500) may be used to reimburse for conference registration fees, transportation, and lodging.

For more information and to apply for GSAC travel funding, please follow the guidelines listed on the GSAC Travel Grant website.

If an MA student receives funding from their program, GSAS may provide matching funds of up to $250 for a student to conduct thesis research or up to $300 for them to present their work at an academic conference. Interested students should first contact the Associate Director to discuss program funding.

For more information on the GSAS matching funds, including application procedure and materials, please view the GSAS MA Research Matching Funds website and the GSAS Funding to Attend Conferences website.

Important Notes

Students whose original research includes work with human subjects are required to obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Such approval is also an eligibility requirement for the European Institute's Thesis Grants. More information can be found on the Columbia Research page Human Research Protection Office and IRBs.

Students must also register their travel itinerary, personal contact information, and emergency contacts using the International SOS MyTrips travel registry.