Regulations for Visiting Scholars and Visiting Students

Visiting Scholars

Philosophy Faculty may sponsor non-Stanford-affiliated professors or other qualified individuals — who are employed or appointed at another institution or organization — to carry out research with the department for a defined period of time. Visiting Scholar appointments range from a few months to one year with the possibility of renewal.  

Criteria for Visiting Scholar Appointments

  1. The individual must be visiting from, and have an ongoing affiliation with, an outside academic or research institution or organization.  The individual must have leave from the academic or research institution where he/she holds an appointment which will not expire prior to expiration of the Stanford appointment.
  2. The individual must have a doctoral degree or recognized research-related expertise in his or her field.
  3. The individual must have a source of financial support from outside Stanford University (Visiting Scholar appointments do not provide any Stanford salary).
  4. The visitor must be proficient in English.

        Please note: all requirements must be fulfilled. 

Examples of Visiting Scholar Appointments

  • Faculty from other academic institutions who are invited to Stanford on an unpaid basis during a period of  sabbatical at their home institution.
  • Qualified personnel from industry, government or other organizations (such as research institutes), including qualified retirees from those institutions, who wish to visit Stanford on an unpaid basis.

NOTES: Anyone who wishes to pursue such appointment with the Department of Philosophy must first request a faculty member to sponsor them.  The appointment would then need to be approved by the Stanford School of Humanities & Sciences (H&S) Dean's Office.

Visit the H&S Dean's Office to learn more about becoming a visiting scholar

Check out the Bechtel International Center at Stanford for visa questions and more

For more information about being a Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Department of Philosophy, please contact lmfagan [at] stanford.edu (Linda Fagan.)


Visiting Students

Exchange Scholars

Stanford University participates in a limited number of exchange programs at the graduate level, permitting enrolled Stanford graduate students to register for courses at other participating universities, and permitting graduate students at those universities to register for courses at Stanford.

The participating institutions are Brown University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Stanford University (School of Humanities and Sciences), University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University.

Find more information about the exchange scholar program

Visiting Student Researchers

PhD students from other universities who are at the dissertation stage of their degree and have completed all coursework are eligible to apply to be a Visiting Student Researcher (VSR) at Stanford.

The  requirements and application information are available at the Stanford University Office of the Registrar.

For international applicants, we recommend looking at the visa requirements on the Bechtel International Center site.

Prospective visiting student researchers need to be invited by a Stanford faculty member, and are required to provide evidence of sufficient funding to cover living expenses (for themselves and their dependents), health insurance, and VSR fees. We do not provide any funding. International VSRs are also required to provide TOEFL scores high enough to meet the visa requirement.

VSRs are allowed to sit in on classes if they receive the instructor's permission, but do not receive official credit, grades, or transcripts.  VSR fees include access to the libraries and an email account.

To apply to be a visiting researcher, the first step is to find a faculty sponsor. If a faculty member agrees to invite you, the next step is the application. Please contact the graduate administrator if you have secured a faculty sponsor, in order to start the application process.

Please be advised that international VSRs are required to demonstrate proficiency in English via a TOEFL score as part of the visa application process. 

For more information, please contact the graduate administrator