SLAT welcomes the breadth of knowledge that our Visiting Scholars bring to our program.
Thank you for your interest in joining SLAT as a Visiting Scholar! SLAT accepts applications of Visiting Scholars year-round, with the preference of having scholars join us in August each year so they may participate in the SLAT Proseminar. We invite visiting scholars who already hold a Ph.D or who are currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program at another university to apply to SLAT as a Visiting Scholar.
A research scholar is an individual primarily conducting research, observing, or consulting in connection with a research project at The University of Arizona.
For those Visiting Scholars who already hold an M.A. degree or who are currently enrolled in an M.A program, they should apply to our SLAT-CESL Visiting Scholar program.
For scholars who already hold a Ph.D. or who are currently enrolled in a Ph.D program at another university, SLAT would like to effectively determine how closely your research interests align with our program’s mission. Therefore, we ask that you provide us with some information about the project you’ll be working on while you are here in Tucson. In particular, we would like to know which faculty member you would like to work with. Please see our faculty list to make contact with a SLAT faculty member to discuss collaboration. Please note that The University of Arizona, the SLAT program, and the faculty host cannot provide funding for Visiting Scholars. All Visiting Scholars must provide their own funding while at The University of Arizona. Please see below for information about funding requirements for J-1 Research Scholars.
Once you’ve identified and corresponded with a faculty sponsor, please submit a brief proposal (no more than 150 words) identifying the faculty member with whom you have been in contact with, and the activities and research you plan to undertake as a Visiting Scholar while at The University of Arizona. Please submit your proposal to GIDP-SLAT@arizona.edu. Be sure to include a statement of your long-term goals and how your visit to SLAT will support your work. Please also request that your faculty mentor sends an email to GIDP-SLAT@arizona.edu confirming that they endorse your status as a Visiting Scholar with SLAT at the University of Arizona. Once we receive your proposal, we will assess your fit with SLAT and initiate the visa application process. You will not need to complete any additional application procedures.
For the J1 exchange visitor program information, visit J-1 Information Packet.
Please remember they might be fees, for more information visit Fees and Services.
Federal and sub-federal grants and contracts are not allowed to pay for internal processing fees assessed by the University of Arizona’s International Faculty & Scholars Office for immigration services.
Subject to the federal allowability rules, external processing fees paid to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for sponsoring non-immigrant statuses such as H-1B or J-1 may be allowable on grants and contracts. Fees for sponsoring immigrant status (permanent residency) may never be paid by grants and contracts.
Service fees assessed by the International Faculty & Scholars Office or external attorneys may be paid from a non-federal source of funding (i.e. departmental, state, or local accounts).
The University of Arizona provides a letter of invitation, please visit to see a template of the invitation letter.
The funding requirements for J-1 Research Scholars, Short-Term Scholars, and their J-2 dependents are $2,000 per month for J-1 and $700 per month for each J-2 dependent.
Exchange Visitors may be subject to what is known as the two-year home country physical presence requirement of Section§212(e) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act. It is commonly known as “§212(e)”, “the two-year rule” and “the home residency requirement.”The US Department of State (DOS) regulations require that all J-1 principal and J-2 dependent non-immigrants in residence at U.S. institutions of higher education to have specific medical insurance coverage by the time of the J-1 Program start date. You must submit a copy of your health insurance policy, in English, showing that the coverage meets DOS requirements and is in effect by the start of your J-1 Program.
The Department of State (DOS) mandates that J-1 exchange visitors possess sufficient English language proficiency. Please visit J-1 Exchange Visitor information webpage.
SLAT receives many requests for visiting scholars who hold M.A. degrees or who are currently enrolled in a M.A. program, and are actively involved in teaching and research at their home institutions. For those scholars, we encourage you to apply to the SLAT-CESL visiting scholar program. An inquiry form and more information can be found at: https://cesl.arizona.edu/research/visiting-scholars-program. You will also be required to have a SLAT faculty sponsor and research proposal. SLAT-CESL Visiting Scholars enjoy all the privileges of Ph.D. Visiting Scholars while participating in the SLAT-CESL Visiting Scholar program.
If you have additional questions, please email us at GIDP-SLAT@arizona.edu
To see our current visiting scholars, explore the Current Visiting Scholars Webpage.