Center for Khmer Studies

What Center for Khmer Studies does

The Center for Khmer Studies (CKS) is an independent, non-profit American Overseas Research Center incorporated in Delaware, USA, with operational headquarters in Siem Reap, Cambodia (Wat Damnak campus), a branch office in Phnom Penh, and a US administrative office in Washington DC. Founded in 1998 with the library opening in 2001, CKS supports research, teaching, and public service in the social sciences, arts, and humanities as they relate to Cambodia and the broader Mekong/Southeast Asian region. It serves international and Cambodian scholars, graduate students, undergraduates, Buddhist monks, professional tour guides, and the Cambodian general public.

CKS operates the largest public academic library outside Phnom Penh, holding over 19,000 titles (more than 20,000 items) specializing in Cambodian and Southeast Asian history and culture, managed by trained Cambodian librarians and supplemented by JSTOR and Research4Life database access. Its product portfolio includes multiple fellowship programs (US Scholar, Cambodian Scholar, French Scholar, Ponlok Chomnes, Scholar-in-Residence, Junior Resident Fellows, Khmer Language and Culture Program), a travel grant program, a research affiliation scheme, and a publishing initiative producing the trilingual peer-reviewed journal Siksacakr, Khmer-language translations of essential academic texts, Southeast Asian Studies Serials, conference proceedings, monographs, and the In Focus newsletter. The underlying technology comprises an online library catalog (library.khmerstudies.org), the Cambodia Urban Database (urbandatabase.khmerstudies.org), and JSTOR/Research4Life integrations — a moderate digital stack without API or mobile app layers.

CKS's business model is non-profit and donor-dependent. Revenue streams include government and foundation grants (US Department of Education, Australian DFAT via The Asia Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Scaler Foundation, Louisa Sarofim Foundation, Van Waveren Foundation), individual donations and tiered memberships ($100–$35,000+), publication sales at modest unit prices ($7–$20 per title), and nominal research affiliation fees ($30 for 1 month to $100 for 12 months). Its go-to-market is event- and community-led, reaching scholars through fellowship competitions, university partnerships, conferences, and a free public library; library access itself is free, with fees and sales representing a small share of total support. The organization is governed by a board of directors and led by President/CEO Eve Zucker.

Name

Center for Khmer Studies

Legal name

Center for Khmer Studies Inc.

Website

https://khmerstudies.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Center for Khmer Studies is a US-incorporated non-profit American Overseas Research Center operating in Cambodia, running fellowship programs, publishing trilingual scholarship, and maintaining the largest public academic library outside Phnom Penh for scholars, students, and the Cambodian public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Interdisciplinary & Multidisciplinary Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAI)

Keywords

• Academic research center
• Khmer studies library
• Research fellowships
• Scholarly publications
• Southeast Asian studies

Headquarters

HQ city

Siem Reap

HQ country

Cambodia

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Membership: CKS relies heavily on individual donations and membership contributions. Annual giving membership categories range from Director's Circle ($35,000+) to Members ($100-$999). The organization also accepts special gifts, memorial donations, and planned giving.
2. Government and Foundation Grants: CKS receives funding from government agencies (US Department of Education, Australian DFAT through The Asia Foundation) and foundations (Rockefeller Foundation, Van Waveren Foundation, Louisa Sarofim Foundation, Scaler Foundation) for specific programs and fellowships.
3. Publication Sales: Sales of academic publications including journals, monographs, conference proceedings, and translated texts at CKS offices and local bookstores in Cambodia.
4. Research Affiliation Fees: Small affiliation fees charged to researchers for using CKS facilities: $30 for up to 1 month, $50 for 3 months, $80 for 6 months, $100 for 12 months.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Center for Khmer Studies (CKS) is a non-profit academic research center and library dedicated to the study of Cambodian (Khmer) civilization, society, and history. It operates research facilities in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, administers fellowship programs for scholars and students, maintains a research library of Khmer-related holdings, and publishes scholarly works including books and the journal Khmer Studies.

Product overview

The Center for Khmer Studies (CKS) operates as a research center and library organization offering a coordinated portfolio of fellowship programs, academic publications, and library services. Its core offerings include multiple fellowship programs for US, Cambodian, and French scholars (US Scholar Research Fellowships, Cambodian Scholar Research Fellowships, French Scholar Research Fellowships), specialized research programs (Ponlok Chomnes Research Fellowship, Scholar-in-Residence, Junior Resident Fellows, Khmer Language and Culture Program, Travel Grants, Research Affiliation), and a comprehensive publishing initiative producing Southeast Asian Studies Serials, the peer-reviewed Siksacakr journal, Khmer Language Translations, Conference Proceedings, Monographs, and the In Focus newsletter. CKS also maintains the largest public academic library outside Phnom Penh with over 19,000 titles, supporting these programs with online catalog access, JSTOR integration, Research4Life databases, and the Cambodia Urban Database.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Fellowship Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Library serves diverse population from researchers to elementary school students, with free access to internet, databases (JSTOR, Research4Life), and over 20,000 academic items

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCKS is the first member institution of CAORC in Southeast Asia. CAORC provides funding for the Scholar-in-Residence Fellowship Program and supports American overseas research centers.
• Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParis-based institution that administers French Scholar Research Fellowships in partnership with CKS.
• Bophana Audiovisual Resource CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Mobile Cinema Tour screening of documentary films including Broken Courage, bringing Cambodian stories to communities.
• Cambodian UniversitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with colleges and universities in Cambodia for research collaboration, fellowship programs, and academic exchange.
• US UniversitiescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner institutions for Khmer Language and Culture Program; US students may receive FLAS Fellowships through their institutions.

Scale indicators4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam): Cambodian non-profit documenting Khmer Rouge history and genocide. Closest direct peer: operates a specialized archive, runs training and fellowships, and serves as a parallel research/reference institution in Cambodia.
• Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center: Phnom Penh-based audiovisual archive and cultural center preserving Cambodian film and memory. Already a CKS partner; same audience of researchers, students, and monks, with overlapping programming.
• American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE): CAORC-affiliated center advancing research on Egypt. Comparable scale and structure: fellowship programs, institutional library, and US-government funding pipeline via CAORC.
• American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies: Sister CAORC member center supporting US scholarship on Sri Lanka. Near-identical operating model: fellowships, library, publications, language training, US/foreign office structure.
• SEAlang Library: Digital library specializing in Southeast Asian languages including Khmer. Comparable in subject-matter specialization and digital resource focus, but operates purely online without a physical campus or fellowship programs.

Emerging players

• Cambodian Living Arts: Phnom Penh-based non-profit preserving Cambodian performing arts and culture. Adjacent peer sharing the same donor pool (US/European foundations), beneficiary audience, and cultural-preservation mission.

Broad incumbents

• East-West Center: US Congress-affiliated Asia-Pacific research and education institute. Much larger and broader in scope, but pursues a similar mission of US-based scholarship on the Asia-Pacific region, including Cambodia and the Mekong.
• American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS): Larger CAORC-affiliated center with comparable fellowship and language programs. Operates on a much bigger budget but mirrors CKS's model of fellowships + library + language training for US scholars.

Others

• Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC): Umbrella network of which CKS is a member. Not a direct competitor but the parent institutional framework that funnels US-government funding and scholar pipelines to CKS.

Regional players

• Royal University of Phnom Penh: Cambodia's leading public university and a CKS research partner. Comparable in drawing Khmer-language scholars and providing research infrastructure, but operates as a degree-granting institution rather than a research center.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ckscambodia
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/centerforkhmerstudies
• Facebookfacebook.com/157587477619222
• Instagraminstagram.com/center_for_khmer_studies
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-for-khmer-studies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center for Khmer Studies