Selection Criteria
In selecting applicants, consideration is made of each applicant’s background, field of interest, and achievements in scholarship and/or practice. Particular weight will be given to the research proposal. The applicant’s English language level is also an important factor, as it has been our experience that Visiting Scholars who arrive at Harvard already highly proficient in English benefit much more from their experience. EALS does not have a minimum score requirement for standardized tests. Generally, Visiting Scholars have a total TOEFL score of at least 100, with at least 22 in each subsection (Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing).
Application Deadline
The application deadline is February 15 for the following academic year or any part thereof. On occasion, we may consider applications at other times. If you would like to apply but will not be able to meet the February 15 deadline, please contact us as soon as possible.
Required Application Materials
- Online application form: Please see below for information about the online application system (CARAT).
- CV: Your CV must include: (1) your undergraduate and graduate education information, including schools (and their locations), degrees, majors, and dates of study; (2) your employment history, including names of companies or organizations, your positions or titles, and dates of employment (month and year); and (3) a list of your publications. For each publication, please provide a full citation in the language in which it was published (e.g. in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean). If it was not published in English, please also provide a full citation translated into English.
- Research proposal: Please submit a research proposal of no more than five pages. It should include a detailed description of your proposed project, the methodology you plan to employ, and your objectives. Please explain why EALS is an appropriate setting for undertaking your research, including the resources that you plan to use at Harvard, and any Law School faculty in your research area that you may wish to consult. Please also explain how time spent as a Visiting Scholar fits into your long- term research goals.
- Personal statement: Please submit a personal statement of no more than five pages. We receive applications from many outstanding scholars and practitioners from around the world, and we encourage you to take this opportunity to show us how you are different from other applicants. What are your intellectual and professional aspirations? How have you contributed to your community, nation, place of work or study? In what ways would a research stay at EALS influence your thinking and work in the future?
- Academic transcripts: Please submit scans of transcripts. If you are accepted as a Visiting Scholar, we may require formal transcripts.
- TOEFL or IELTS score, or waiver request: Please submit a recent TOEFL (preferred) or IELTS score report. If you graduated from a degree program conducted entirely in English — for example, you received an LL.M. degree from a law school in the U.S. — you may request a waiver by submitting an academic transcript for that degree. Please note that in order to sponsor a J-1 visa, we are required by the U.S. Government to certify that a Visiting Scholar has sufficient English language proficiency.
- 2 reference letters: We require at least two reference letters. If you have previously been at Harvard, at least one reference letter must be from a Harvard faculty member. Your recommenders must submit their letters by uploading them onto CARAT in PDF format. Once you submit your application, your recommenders will receive an invitation email with instructions to upload their letter.
- $50 application fee: You may pay the application fee with a debit or credit card by going to this website: EALS Visiting Scholar Application Fee (opens in new tab). Alternatively, you may send the application fee (check or money order payable to Harvard University) by regular or registered mail to East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. The application fee may be waived in some circumstances.
- Interview, if applicable: During the application review process, we may contact you for an interview. Interviews are conducted on Zoom.
Optional Application Materials
If you wish, you may submit a third reference letter — please ask your third recommender to email it to Deborah Han.
CARAT Submission Instructions
All required application materials (other than the application fee) must be submitted on the online application system, CARAT (opens in new tab). Please submit your application by February 15 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. We recommend that you submit your application early to give your recommenders time to submit their reference letters. Once you submit your application, your recommenders will receive an invitation email from CARAT with a link to upload their letter.
Decisions
For applications (including reference letters) submitted by February 15, decisions will be communicated by April 1. While we will consider exigent circumstances, applicants should understand that for reasons of fairness to our entire applicant pool, we are unlikely to be able to communicate decisions prior to April 1.
Questions
If you have questions about CARAT, please email Deborah Han. If you have other questions related to the application, please email Alice Izumo.