Visiting Research Scholars

VRS Dr. Tatevik Davtyan

Dr. Tatevik Davtyan is the CMC’s most recent
visiting research scholar. Dr. Davtyan conducted
a comparison study of international best practices
in research security and Armenia’s research ecosystem. Dr. Davtyan has since received positive feedback from senior leaders in Armenia’s academic and government circles. Her report has also been widely circulated within the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the DOE Office of Science. Dr. Davtyan’s study, “Global Experiences on Research Security to Inform Armenia’s Reform,” is accessible here.

Dr. Davtyan is an Associate Professor of Law at Yerevan State University (YSU), a licensed attorney in New York and Armenia, and Vice President of Legal & Compliance at the One Planet Group. She specializes in IT law, emerging technologies, and intellectual property law, and has collaborated as a consultant with organizations like the U.S. DOS, U.S. Agency for International Development, CRDF Global, the Raul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, and the World Bank. Under her leadership, the Armenian Ministry of Justice has implemented programs covering the topics of prison monitoring, justice monitoring, court case digitization/electronic court filing, and anti‑corruption. Dr. Davtyan has a Ph.D. in Law from YSU and an M.A. from Georgetown University Law Center.


VRS Program Overview

Since 1998, Sandia’s Cooperative Monitoring Center (CMC) has hosted a unique Visiting Research Scholars program that assembles international subject matter experts (SMEs) to conduct joint research and analyses on the policy and technology challenges related to global security concerns of the US government and its international partners. Often, the invited scholars represent opposing viewpoints, yet they share the mutual goal of examining and developing collaborative confidence building measures between their countries and within their region. While at the CMC, the Visiting Research Scholars work closely with Sandia SMEs and others to develop, promote, and implement concepts and technical cooperation within a wide range of international security issues.

Simply put, the goal of the Visiting Research Scholars program is to enable regional experts to determine their own problems, to devise indigenous solutions, and to champion their implementation. Another goal—and key mission of the CMC—is the development and management of cooperative technical research projects on a host of topics.

Image of sandia-vrs2

Scholars working at the Center for Global Security and Cooperation (CGSC) in Albuquerque, NM.

Over the years, the Visiting Research Scholars program has engaged scholars from countries in East Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, the Americas, and Central Asia on an extensive range of topics, including arms control, nonproliferation, confidence and security-building measures, border security, maritime security, and environmental management. In addition to written research, a number of studies have been successfully leveraged into real-world technical engagements and project implementations.

Prospective Applicants

Applicants are selected based on a competitive process that considers mutual areas of interest between the individual researcher and the CMC, periods of availability, and project proposals. Citizens of any country may apply, but the program is not open to university students. Interested candidates should submit a current CV, a short research proposal, and a writing sample.

Application Deadline

Applications are handled on a rolling deadline.

For more information

Please contact us via email at vrs@sandia.gov

VRS Publications

The CMC’s Publications page contains an extensive collection of Formal Documents, Occasional Papers, and other Papers and Journals