Visiting Scholar Policies

For general information about the Visiting Scholar program, please refer to the Visiting Scholars and Postdoc Affairs website: vspa.berkeley.edu

Application Procedure 

Each prospective visiting scholar must have a faculty sponsor in the Department of History. After securing the support of a faculty sponsor, the prospective visitor should provide that sponsor with the following documents in electronic form:

  1. A completed VSPA application;

  2. A current curriculum vitae;
  3. A research proposal describing the work to be undertaken at UCB.  

A list of the Department's current faculty members is available here. The faculty sponsor should submit the aforementioned documents to the Department of History's Academic Personnel Coordinator at history-ap@berkeley.edu.

Application Deadlines

Requests are due by the following deadlines but may be submitted well in advance:
 

  • February 1 for visits to commence during the summer sessions; 

  • April 1 for visits to commence in the fall semester;
  • September 1 for visits to commence in the spring semester.


Late requests will receive lower priority. 

Responsibility for reviewing and approving visiting scholar requests rests with the departmental Vice-Chair for Personnel for Visiting Scholars and Vice-Chair of Graduate Affairs for Visiting Student Researchers. Departmental decisions will be announced promptly following the deadlines and the applications will be forwarded to the VSPA office for final approval. Visitors who require letters of invitation or the like in advance of final VSPA action should make requests to our Academic Personnel Coordinator.

Arrangements for Visitors

Before and throughout the visit, the principal staff contact for all administrative arrangements is the Academic Personnel Coordinator.

Faculty sponsors are expected to be in residence during the period of the visit, to take primary responsibility for providing a supportive and collegial environment, and to assist in resolving any problems that may arise.

All scholars must maintain health insurance coverage during their appointments. UC Berkeley has partnered with Garnett-Powers & Associates, Inc. to provide assistance to scholars with the selection and enrollment process and verify that university health insurance requirements are met by the scholar. More information on health insurance requirements can be found on the VSPA website.

International scholars requiring visas work with the Visiting Scholar Coordinator, who will then prepare the DS-2019 applications for J-1 visas for submission to the Berkeley International Office (BIO). Scholars must provide the following supporting documentation for these applications: proof of funding; and a copy of the biographical page of passport(s) for the applicant and any accompanying dependents.

Visitors and sponsors should be aware that the campus requires the department to provide the exact departure dates of scholars. Please give this information to the Visiting Scholar Coordinator in advance of departure.

Administrative Fees

The following fees are effective during the 2021-2022 academic year, and are subject to change: 


  • University Services Fee, $750 per visit for Visiting Scholars and $1,000 per visit for Visiting Student Researchers;
  • Department of History Administrative Fee, $400 per visit;
  • Berkeley International Office (BIO) visa processing fee, $600 per DS-2019 request (international visitors only)

Benefits & Privileges for Visitors

More information on benefits and privileges can be found on the VSPA website.

The Department of History regrets that it is unable to provide scholars with office space, computers, or telephone lines. Visitors may connect their own laptop computers to the campus AirBears wireless network.

Visitors in residence for one semester or more will be listed in the Visiting Scholars directory on the Department of History website.