The main emphasis in the Rachel Carson Center is the research work of its international Carson Fellows, highly regarded, established researchers or promising young scholars who are looking to complete a book or articles which correspond to one of the thematic clusters of the center. In order to attract excellent fellows from all over the world, the length of the fellowships are flexible. To achieve continuity, the fellowships are staggered so that no more than half of the fellowships end at any one time. All Carson Fellows are required to work actively on their research in Munich and are expected to contribute their substantial expertise to the work of the center.
Every year, the Carson Center also hosts a number of Visiting Fellows, that is, researchers from outside Germany who are invited to stay at the center, some of them for a short period of time and others for up to a year. Visiting Fellows are not part of the Carson Fellows program, but are intended to strengthen and diversify the program itself. Many of them receive external funding. Common sponsors are the Visiting Fellows' home institutions, the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD), the Canadian Embassassy, and the Fulbright Commission.
LMU Fellows are, for the most part, members of the LMU Munich (Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität) faculty who take an active part in Carson Center programs.
