Visitor Program

CGD maintains creative collaboration mechanisms to leverage scientific contributions from throughout the NCAR program as well as from external university partners. The CGD scientific visitor program nurtures and maintains long-term scientific interactions with university and national laboratory collaborators. CGD's visitor program provides the opportunity for long-term scientific visits, along with investment in local infrastructure support to ensure collaborators can make the most productive use of their time. Strategic partnerships with other NCAR laboratories exists which employs mechanisms to better facilitate long-term collaborative visits. Enhanced interactions with the university community allows CGD to play a more direct role in the education and training of the next generation of students.

Visitor Responsibilities and CGD Processes

To visit CGD, there are a few requirements to ensure a smooth visit.

Within CGD, a visitor must have an affiliation and a host on staff to sponsor the visit. Even the one-day visitor must have a host and visitor paperwork. This host agrees to collaborate, schedule appointments or seminars, be a mentor, or direct the research or project involved. Many university professors work with their colleagues in CGD and their students are often the benefactors of these collaborations.

All visits must be approved by some person in authority. Short term visitors (6 months or less) are approved by the section head of the host's section. If there is financial support requested, then various budget considerations are presented to committees or persons responsible for those budgets effected. Long-term visitors (greater than 6 months) are approved by both the section head of the host's group and the CGD Laboratory Office, whether or not there are financial considerations. Before approval is given, space, computer, and other intangible resources must be considered.

J-1 Exchange Visitors

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has implemented a new provision within the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program regulations requiring all sponsors to document that their J-1 visitors/visa holders have sufficient English language proficiency.