Funding Opportunities for Students at IERES

Funding Opportunities for Students at IERES

IERES Research Assistants

We invite GW students to apply for Research Assistant positions at IERES for the Fall 2025 semester. RAs will provide research support to IERES affiliated faculty members conducting research in various disciplines on Europe, Russia, and Eurasia. Preference will be given to graduate students studying in the European and Eurasian MA program or another graduate program at the Elliott School. Students studying at other GW schools and undergraduate students are also welcome to apply. Students will be compensated at the rate of $18/hour. The number of hours worked per week will vary depending on the needs of the faculty member and research project. To apply, students should submit a CV and cover letter (together in one pdf) detailing your studies at GW, experience, qualifications, and interest in supporting research at IERES to ieresgwu@gwu.edu with the subject heading “IERES Research Assistant ” by September 19, 2025. 

IERES PhD Student Fellowship

We invite GW students who are actively enrolled in one of our university’s PhD programs to apply to be a PhD Student Fellow at IERES for Academic Year 2025-26. PhD Student Fellows will be considered affiliates of IERES, which will come with a research budget of up to $2,000 for the fellowship period, and if requested, some working space and the ability to utilize some administrative services like printing and copying. The budget could support, for example, a pilot survey for one’s dissertation or an article, travel to a country in which one is doing field research, or the hiring of a research assistant. When requesting to use their funding, fellows will need to prepare a budget and request approval for the expenditure, and the funds must be spent by the end of the fellowship period (in this case, August 15, 2026) or they will expire. We would hope that IERES PhD Student Fellows would also be (and benefit from being!) active members of our intellectual community, engaging with our students, visiting scholars, and other guests informally and through participation in relevant institute events, such as the Postcommunist Politics Workshop. To be eligible, the student’s research should have a major (though not necessarily exclusive) focus on countries in IERES’s area of focus, and students should also have appropriate training/skills relevant for studying the region.

To apply, PhD students should submit a one-page cover letter, a CV, and a list of two references from GW faculty (no letters are needed from them). The cover letter should summarize the student’s planned dissertation research and describe how they would likely use the research funds. (If the student would not plan to use any funds, that is of course OK too – we would still welcome the student with the formal status as IERES fellow!) Please send your application to ieresgwu@gwu.edu. with the subject heading “IERES PhD Student Fellowships” by September 26, 2025.

Yakobson Summer Language Fellowship

IERES offers a fellowship to support a GW graduate student’s enrollment in a summer intensive (immersion) program for the study of an Eastern European or Eurasian (as IERES defines it) language that will directly help them in a professional career engaging this part of the world. Students currently enrolled in either MA or doctoral programs at GW are eligible so long as they will not have graduated before the end of the language program for which support is requested. Awards are contingent on the student’s being admitted to a reputable summer language program, as determined by IERES. To apply, students should send a one-page cover letter describing their need for the language program, a CV (resume), a budget, and a list of two references whom IERES might contact to discuss the student’s need and qualifications for the language program (one should be a language instructor and the other someone familiar with the student’s course of study at GW) to ieresgwu@gwu.edu, with the subject heading “Yakobson Summer Language Fellowship.” Successful applications will name the specific program(s) to which the student is applying and describe how this (these) particular program(s) will be useful. To ensure full consideration for summer 2025, complete applications should be submitted by March 1, 2026, though applications will be considered on a rolling basis if funds remain after the initial round of decisions. This fellowship is supported by the Helen and Sergius Yakobson Scholarship Endowment. Students accepting this award should not have overlapping funding for the same language program from another source.

Information for Faculty

IERES-affiliated faculty who are conducting research on Europe, Russia, and Eurasia are eligible to apply. Please send an email to ieresgwu@gwu.edu containing a brief proposal (no more than one page) that outlines the research assistance you require (including any particular skills, such as language or statistical knowledge) and describes its importance for you. If there is a specific student with whom you wish to work, please specify this; otherwise, we will try to match you with a student applicant who best matches your needs. Hours allocated must be used during the semester in which they were awarded.