Since 2009, the Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia at the University of Michigan has been awarding Weiser Professional Development Fellowships to faculty and artists at institutions of higher education in select countries in Europe and Eurasia. Fellows work on projects with a faculty partner at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. See below and on past fellow pages the profiles of successful Weiser Professional Development Fellows.
For more information about the fellowship, and to apply, see our Visiting Fellows page.
Artur Atanesyan
Weiser Professional Development Fellow, 2024
Artur Atanesyan is a professor of applied sociology and department head at Yerevan State University in Armenia. His areas of research and teaching include political and military sociology, conflict communication, and mass media theories. He was a Fulbright researcher at the University of Maryland, College Park (2020), and a visiting professor at the South Caucasus Federal University (2020-2021), the University of Tampere (Finland, 2018), and the University of Sapienza (Italy, 2016). In July 2023, he taught at the Monterey Summer Symposium on Russia, organized by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He has served as an OSCE national expert (2012-2014), a national consultant for the Council of Europe Project on Human Rights and Women in the Armed Forces (HRWAF, 2018-2021), and a local expert for the 2016-2018 Action Plan on Ensuring Women’s Protection and Equal Opportunities in the Defense Sector in the Republic of Armenia. Professor Atanesyan is visiting U-M in September to work on his research project, “Identity Structure and Forms of Involvement: Southeast Michigan Armenians in Contemporary Political, Economic, and Cultural Life of Armenia," with Gottfried Hagen, director of the Center for Armenian Studies, and professor or Turkish studies.
Martin Djovčoš
Weiser Professional Development Fellow, 2024
Martin Djovčoš is an associate professor of English and American studies at the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, as well as an active translator and interpreter. His teaching and translation/interpretation research currently focuses mainly on sociological aspects of translation, patterns in intercultural communication, and translation/interpreting training. He is one of the organizers of the “Translation, Interpreting, Culture” conference series and an editor of multiple volumes on translation and interpreting. Professor Djovčoš is visiting U-M in September to work on his research project, “Toward a Comprehensive Methodology of Mapping Translators’ Habitus,” with Benjamin Paloff, chair of Slavic languages & literatures (SLL) and professor of SLL and comparative literature.
Nargiz Hajiyeva
Weiser Professional Development Fellow, 2024
Nargiz Hajiyeva is a political scientist and recipient of the Swiss Federal Excellence Scholarship from Baku, Azerbaijan. Currently, she is the director of the “Organization of Scientific Activities” unit and the chair of the Women Researchers Council (WRC) - Research Center, as well as a part-time academic instructor for courses on political science and leadership and organizational behavior at Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC).
She is also an affiliated member of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG) at the University of Michigan. She is the first female political scientist from Azerbaijan to serve as co-director of the empirical methods working group at the Swiss Political Science Association in Bern, Switzerland. Her research focuses on international security and foreign policy issues, energy security, cultural and political history, global political economy, and international law. She is the author of more than 40 articles related to political science and international affairs, two books and one book chapter, and various policy papers and expert reviews. She is visiting U-M in September to work on her research project, “The Impact of Azerbaijan Pipeline Diplomacy on European Energy Policy in the Aftermath of the Russian-Ukrainian War 2022,” with Pauline Jones, professor of political science and director for the Michigan in Washington Program.
Maksim Iavich
Weiser Professional Development Fellow, Winter 2025
Maksim Iavich is professor and head of the cyber security department at Caucasus University (CU). He leads the information technologies BA, IT management MA, and cyber security programs. Professor Iavich is also a director at the Cyber Security Center, CST (CU). He is CEO & President at the Scientific Cyber Security Association (SCSA) and was acknowledged in 2018 as Georgia’s best young scientist in the field of technology. He also works as a cybersecurity consultant in organizations in Georgia and internationally. Professor Iavich received numerous scientific awards in the field of cyber security and is the author of many scientific papers which cover topics like cyber security, cryptography, post-quantum cryptography, 5G security, mathematical models, and simulations. He is visiting U-M in January 2025 to work on his research project, “Post-quantum Digital Signature Cryptographic System Using Verkle Trees,” with Mingyan Liu, associate dean for academic affairs, College of Engineering and professor of engineering.
Darko Spasevski
Weiser Professional Development Fellow, Winter 2025
Darko Spasevski is a professor, legal consultant, and civic activist. He has been a member of the Law Faculty "Iustininus Primus" at "Ss. Cyril and Methodius University" in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia since 2008, focusing mainly on business law. He teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses on business law, bankruptcy law, and e-commerce law.
In addition to his academic role, Professor Spasevski has substantial practical experience. He was involved in drafting the new Law on Companies (2023) and actively contributed to the drafting of the Macedonian Civil Code concerning trade agreements. Professor Spasevski has served as a consultant and local legal expert for firms like White and Case and Wilmer and Hale on cases presented at various international forums. He is also actively involved in the civic sector, serving as the Secretary General of the Institute for Strategic Research and Education, collaborating with various donors such as the EU Delegation in Skopje, the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, and others. He is visiting U-M in February 2025 to work on his research project, “Analysis of the Chosen,” which aims to answer whether there exists a superior legal form of organization for social entrepreneurship, with John Branch, clinical associate professor of business administration.
