DC Visiting Scholars
For visiting scholars, fellows, and archive researchers based in the District and inner suburbs.
Nearby areas
Getting around
Dense Metrorail coverage across the District; most scholars go car-free. Capital Bikeshare is widely used.
Who it’s for
Visiting scholars, fellows, think-tank and archive researchers
Institutions nearby
Smithsonian, Library of Congress, DC-area universities
Official resources
External links. Not affiliated with or endorsed by these organizations.
Smithsonian Fellowships & Internships (official) ↗Smithsonian in-residence research fellowships across its museums and research centers.
Catholic University — International Faculty, Researchers & Visitors (official) ↗Catholic University's official office for visiting scholars and researchers in Brookland, NE DC. Visitors generally arrange their own housing — this is an independent community resource to help with that.
Something off here, a posting or verification issue, or a research hub we should add? Send feedback.
Housing
View all*BIG* ONE-BEDROOM Furnished Old Town apartment available - flexible dates
- Furnished
- From 2026-09-03
Furnished house walking distance to NIH
- Furnished
- From 2026-08-16
Furnished 2-room suite + PRIVATE bath — Clarendon/Ashton Heights, Arlington
- Furnished
- From 2026-08-10
Marketplace
View allBe the first to list an item near DC
Selling or giving away furniture, a bike, or moving-sale items as you arrive or leave? List it for the community.
Events
View allHost the first event near DC
A newcomer happy hour or coffee meetup is the fastest way to build community for visiting researchers here.
Guides for DC
Moving to the DC area for a research stay
A practical first-week checklist for arriving researchers: where to land, how to get around, and what to set up first.
Read guide →DC-area housing for visiting scholars
Living car-free in the District: neighborhoods, transit, and short-term options for scholars.
Read guide →Short-term furnished housing near DC research campuses
Where to look for furnished short-term rentals near the campuses, and what to confirm before you commit.
Read guide →How to meet other visiting researchers in the DC area
A short stay is easier with a network. Concrete ways to meet other visiting researchers, fellows, and scholars near the campuses.
Read guide →How to organize a happy hour or newcomer meetup
A simple playbook for hosting a low-stress newcomer happy hour or meetup for visiting researchers — and posting it so people show up.
Read guide →DC-area guide for visiting scholars
A one-page orientation for visiting scholars in DC: housing, getting around, what to set up first, and how to find community.
Read guide →Short-term housing near NIH, NIST, and DC research campuses
The main short-term housing options for visiting researchers — sublets, shared houses, aparthotels, and corporate housing — and which fits each campus.
Read guide →Roommate checklist for visiting researchers
What to sort out before moving in with roommates during a research stay — money, space, schedules, and an easy exit.
Read guide →How to find community events as a visiting scholar
Where to find newcomer happy hours, meetups, and gatherings during a short research stay — and how to not miss them.
Read guide →What to do during your first week in the DC area as a visiting researcher
A day-by-day first-week checklist for arriving researchers: badge, bank, phone, transit, housing, and finding people.
Read guide →Housing near GWU / Foggy Bottom for visiting researchers and fellows
Where visiting researchers, fellows, and trainees live around George Washington University and Foggy Bottom — neighborhoods, commute, and what to expect on rent.
Read guide →DC university visiting scholar housing tips
Practical housing tips for visiting scholars at DC universities — how to find a short-term place near campus, go car-free, and avoid the common pitfalls.
Read guide →GWU Foggy Bottom housing for visiting scholars, fellows and graduate students
Independent housing guidance for visiting scholars, fellows, postdocs, graduate and master's students, and research interns at George Washington University — what is realistic near Foggy Bottom on an appointment-length stay, and why a good Metro connection usually beats living beside the campus gate.
Read guide →Georgetown visiting researcher housing: living near a campus with no Metro stop
Independent housing guidance for visiting researchers and fellows at Georgetown University — how to plan a commute to a campus that has no Metro station of its own, and where furnished rooms and sublets turn up.
Read guide →American University visiting scholar housing across upper Northwest DC
Independent housing guidance for visiting scholars and fellows at American University — Red Line and bus options across upper Northwest DC and into the Maryland border, and where short-term rooms turn up.
Read guide →DC-area research hubs: a guide for visiting researchers
A practical directory of the DC/Maryland research hubs visiting scholars, fellows, postdocs, and interns live around — federal campuses, universities, and corridors — with where to look for housing near each.
Read guide →Northern Virginia researcher housing: NSF, Virginia Tech, George Mason
Several Virginia research destinations look close together on a map and are not. Which is which, and what Virginia tenancy law changes for you.
Read guide →Children's National researcher housing: which campus you report to
Children's National works in two places three miles apart, and neither Irving Street hospital is walkable from a Metro station.
Read guide →Other communities near DC
Commute-overlapping areas — widen your search if listings here are sparse. Proximity only; no affiliation implied.
George Washington University / Foggy Bottom
Housing, moving sales, and community for visiting researchers, fellows, and trainees around the George Washington University campus in Foggy Bottom. Independent community resource — not affiliated with GWU.
Explore hub →GeorgetownGeorgetown / Main Campus
Housing, moving sales, and community for visiting researchers, fellows, postdocs, and scholars near the Georgetown University Main Campus in northwest DC. Independent community resource — not affiliated with or endorsed by Georgetown University.
Explore hub →American UAmerican University / Northwest DC
Housing, moving sales, and community for visiting scholars, J-1 exchange visitors, fellows, and student interns around American University in upper Northwest DC. Independent community resource — not affiliated with or endorsed by American University.
Explore hub →Hospital CenterIrving Street hospitals & Brookland
Housing for clinical and biomedical researchers in north-central Washington: MedStar Washington Hospital Center and Children's National Hospital, which sit next to each other on the Irving Street and Michigan Avenue superblock, with Catholic University a short way east in Brookland. The fact that decides most searches here is that Children's National operates in two places about three miles apart — the hospital on Michigan Avenue and the Research & Innovation Campus at the top of Georgia Avenue on the former Walter Reed site — so "near Children's National" is not a usable instruction. The second is that neither hospital is walkable from a Metro station. Independent community resource — not affiliated with or endorsed by Children's National, MedStar Health, or the Catholic University of America.
Explore hub →DC metroWashington DC metro research community
Researcher housing guidance organised around where you actually work and how you will commute across Washington, Maryland and Northern Virginia. This is the page for choosing: which campus you are assigned to, which jurisdiction you want to be a tenant in, and whether you can live without a car. The starting fact most arrivals learn late is that the institutions bringing you here mostly do not house you — NIH states in terms that it does not provide housing for fellows, and the NIH-adjacent option it points to is limited to badge-holding stipend fellows; NIST's guest-researcher pages carry no housing guidance at all. If you already know your campus, go straight to its own hub — NIH Bethesda and NIST Gaithersburg each have one. Independent community resource — not affiliated with or endorsed by any agency, hospital or university.
Explore hub →