• Background
• Submission of Applications
• About James R. Millar
• Funding

The James R. Millar Graduate Student Prize provides up to $500 annually for the best graduate student research paper in the humanities and social sciences regarding current or former communist regimes. Winners will receive support from the editorial staff of Problems of Post-Communism for publication.  Problems of Post-Communism is an all-scholar editorial board overseen by the NCEEER Board of Directors.

The deadline for submission of papers is February 15, 2012. The Problems of Post-Communism Editorial Board will judge the competition and applicants will be notified of the outcome by May 30, 2012.

In seeking the Millar Prize, applicants should submit via email to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it their papers of no more than 15-25 double-spaced pages in 12-point font, with "Millar application: [your last name]" as the subject line. All submissions must be in English. Papers should be original research projects using primary sources, rather than reviews of existing literature.

The paper topic should be of direct relevance to research issues and trends or contemporary concerns of scholars and policy makers regarding current or former communist regimes. To qualify, applicants must hold or be within one year of receiving an MA or Ph.D in any discipline of the humanities and social sciences, with a concentration and considerable background on some aspect of the history, culture, politics, and economics of communist and postcommunist countries. Postdoctoral scholars are not eligible to participate.

Professor James R. Millar undertook cutting-edge research in the vitally important nexus between scholarly research and effective policy making, holding prominent positions in several major research universities and as a key advisor to the US government on numerous occasions. Professor Millar mentored many leading scholars of the Eurasian and East European studies field and played a key role in building up the field in a variety of academic and administrative settings. He served as Editor of Problems of Post-Communism, playing a key role in sustaining the high research quality of the journal as ownership transferred from the U.S. government to the private sector.

The James R. Millar Graduate Student Prize is supported by NCEEER discretionary funds.

For further information, please contact:

Dana Ponte

Senior Program Officer

910 17th Street NW, Suite 300

Washington, D.C. 20006

Telephone: 202-296-1677

Fax: 866-937-9872