The CIS Summer Research Grant provides funding for summer research projects to PhD candidates whose work focuses on international studies. Research on a broad range of issues will be considered; students from all MIT departments are eligible to apply.
The CIS Summer Research Grant may be used to cover travel costs related to field work (e.g., airfare, lodging, meals) or research-related costs (e.g., data collection). The maximum grant is $4,000. Students may receive no more than two grants during their studies at MIT.
The CIS Summer Research Grant process includes the Jeanne Guillemin Prize, earmarked for woman-identifying PhD candidates studying international affairs.
Questions? Email cis-info@mit.edu.
Application and Deadline
To apply:
Complete the application form.
In the application form, upload one PDF document containing:
- Statement of research problem
- CV
- Faculty letter of support
The deadline for the upcoming grant round will be in March 2025.
Results will be announced in mid-April.
Summer Study Grant Recipients
Funding opportunites are open to PhD students in international affairs at MIT, regardless of their home department. This year, seventeen doctoral students were awarded grants to help support their summer studies. Learn more about the recipients here.
Student Status and Eligibility
Applicants must have registered student status over the summer in order to receive a CIS Summer Research Grant. It is the applicant’s responsibility to comply with MIT and departmental requirements regarding payment of tuition and fees.
Grant Payment
Summer Research Grant funds are paid by direct deposit at the beginning of the project.
Travel Policy
All grantees must comply with the MIT student travel policy.
Summer Research Grant 2024 Awardees
- Natasha Ansari, DUSP, “Planning for the Margins: Voice, Profound Disability and Contestation in Slovo Park, Johannesburg”
Natasha Ansari was awarded the fifth annual Guillemin Prize - Nicholas Blanchette, Political Science, “Strategies of Capability Revelation: Explaining Variation in How States Reveal Novel Military Technologies”
- Diego Alonso Cerna Aragon, STS, “Dreams of a second OPEC: A historic sociological account of the rise and fall of the Intergovernmental Council of Copper Exporting Countries (1967-1992)”
- Chen Chu, DUSP, “Social Policy through Environing: The European Green Deal and Land Use Changes”
- Jerome Patrick Cruz, Political Science, “World Wide Webs: How Diasporas and Adaptive Networks Forged the Knowledge Economy in the Global South”
- Alejandro Frydman, Political Science, "Exploring Latinidad: Identity politicization and national origin diversity"
- Mariel García-Montes, STS, "Birds on the Wire: The Sociotechnical Dimensions of Mexico's Surveillance Culture"
- Olivia Houck, Architecture, “Becoming Concrete: NATO as a Territory Project, 1940-1960”
Olivia Houck was awarded the fifth annual Guillemin Prize - Jared Kalow, Political Science, “Roving Clients, Stationary Patrons: The Political Behavior of Commuters in Developing Democracies”
- Casper Keysers, Political Science, “The Decoupling Myth: Redirection of China-U.S. Trade Through Vietnam”
- Rustam Khan, STS, “Dancing after Decolonization: Race, Class, and Technology in Belgian Hip Hop Culture, 1960-2020”
- Samuel Leiter, Political Science, "Buy or Build? How States Source Military Might"
- Sukrit Puri, Political Science, "Politics of the family firm: Evidence from India"
