Fellowships and Scholarships

Fulbright (United States Student Programs)

Overview

The United States Congress created the Fulbright Program in 1946, immediately after World War II, to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges. Senator J. William Fulbright, sponsor of the legislation, saw it as a step toward building an alternative to armed conflict. Today, the Fulbright Program is the United States Government’s premier scholarship program. It enables United States students and artists to benefit from unique resources in every corner of the world and to gain international competence in an increasingly interdependent world.

Each year the program allows more than 800 Americans to study or conduct research in over 100 nations. The Fulbright Program is funded by an annual Congressional appropriation and contributions from other participating countries. Under the policy guidance of the Presidentially-appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, the United States Information Agency sponsors the program in cooperation with binational Fulbright Commissions and Foundations abroad as well as United States embassies. The Institute of International Education ("IIE") coordinates the activities relevant to the United States graduate student program and conducts an annual competition for the scholarships, most of which are for one academic year of study or research.

The United States Student Program is designed to give recent bachelor's degree graduates, master’s and doctoral candidates, and young professionals and artists opportunities for personal development and international experience. Grantees plan their own programs. Projects may include university coursework, independent library or field research, classes in a music conservatory or art school, special projects in the social or life sciences, or a combination.

Along with opportunities for intellectual, professional, and artistic growth, the Fulbright Program offers invaluable opportunities to meet and work with the people of the host country, sharing daily life as well as professional and creative insights. The program promotes cross-cultural interaction and mutual understanding on a person-to-person basis in an atmosphere of openness, academic integrity, and intellectual freedom. The best way to appreciate others’ viewpoints, their beliefs, the way they think, and the way they do things, is to interact with them directly on an individual basis-work with them, live with them, teach with them, learn with them, and learn from them.

Most of the grants will be awarded for programs of study or research that will require one academic year. However, where sufficient justification is provided, very advanced doctoral candidates and candidates in the creative and performing arts may submit requests for grants of not less than six months.

Fulbright full grants

These grants generally provide funding for a full academic year of research or study overseas.

Fulbright travel grants

Travel grants are available only to Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Korea, Taiwan or the United Kingdom. They are available to supplement an award from a non-IIE source that does not provide funds for travel or to supplement a student’s own funds for study.

A full grant applicant for Germany, Hungary, and Italy may be considered for a travel grant in the event the candidate is not recommended for a full grant. An indication that the candidate wishes reconsideration must be made in the application. Candidates should be aware that a statement may be required, prior to grant insurance, of the student’s ability to support himself while abroad.

Foreign and private grants

The specific benefits and special requirements of grants offered by foreign governments, universities, and private donors can be found in the Individual Country Summaries. Where the awards do not cover the entire expense of foreign study (e.g., international travel), candidates are expected to cover the additional costs from their own funds. As indicated above, some foreign grants may be supplemented by Fulbright travel grants.

Isalmic Civilization Initiative Program

This is the fourth year for this program designed to enhance the knowledge and undersanding of Islam and Islamic history and culture broadly defined. Grants will be awarded to competitive proposals for research and study in any country where there is a Fulbright U.S. Student Program and a significant Muslim population. Graduating seniors are encouraged to apply. However, candidates at all degree levels will be considered. Further information is contained in the Regional Country Summary section of the Fulbright brochure. A program-specific brochure will be distributed at a later date.

Fulbright grants in business, economics, international relations  and law

Several countries have included specific opportunities for business, economics, international relations, and law (some with internships) as part of their Fulbright Fellowship programs. Further information on each is contained in the Individual Country Summaries in the Fulbright Brochure.

• Germany - Five Fulbright enterprise Scholars Awards in business, law, and international relations for university-based study/research combined with private sector cooperation;
• India - The Fulbright Commission and the National Council of Applied Economics Research will offer up to four Flubright/NCAER Grants for Ph.D. candidates in economics. Projects should place particular emphasis on the Indian economy;
• Japan - Applications for academic research and supplementary language study or internships are encouraged from graduate students enrolled in professional business schools. One grant will be available to a graduating senior with an interest in business.
• Mexico - Eight Binational Business Grants are available to enhance knowledge, expertise, and understanding of post-NAFTA Mexico, combining course work in international business or law with an intenrship at a Mexico-based company conducting international or legal business;
• Spain - two International MBA Grants for full-time study in a one-year international MBA program at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, as well as a period of elective seminars and a three-month assessed internship are available;
• United Kingdom - Fulbright MBA Grants are available to fund the first year of a Master's in Business Administration at UK  institutions;
• Uruguay - Applications are encouraged in business administration, law, international trade, and economics, that combine coursework with an internship.

Teaching grant opportunities

• Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships are available in 26 different countries across the globe. More information can be found here.

Fulbright mtvU Awards

• Four awards are given to students with projects researching the aspects of international contemporary or popular music as a cultural force for expression. Applicatns must submit a documentation and outreach plan describing how they intend to share thie activities with their peers during their Fulbright year through mtvU print, broadcast and/or online mediums. More information can be found on the Fulbright website.

Eligibility

Applicants must be United States citizens at the time of application. Preference will be given to applicants whose higher education was received primarily at educational institutions in the United States. Foreign study during the junior year or other periods of undergraduate study that are integral parts of the curricula of American Institutions will not be considered disqualifying. Applicants must hold a BA degree or the equivalent before the beginning date of the grant. Students in the seven-year medical program who will have completed at least 128 credits by the start of the Fulbright year are eligible. Applicants may not hold a doctoral degree at the time of application, unless otherwise noted. Applicants must be in good health. Grantees will be required to submit a satisfactory Certificate of Health from a physician.

Applicants in medicine must have an MD or the equivalent (e.g., DDS, OD) degree at the time of application. [NOTE: A scholar with an MD degree who has completed his formal postgraduate training and proposes attachment to a hospital or clinic for the purpose of independent or collaborative research should contact the Office of Sponsored Programs and apply to the Fulbright Scholar Program (Grants for United States Faculty and Professionals).]

Applicants may hold a J.D. degree at the time of application.

Applicants for Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Awards may hold a Ph.D. degree at the time of application provided that it was obtained no earlier than June of the year prior to the year in which you submit your application.

Candidates applying for the postdoctoral Junior Researcher awards in Israel must have received their Ph.D.’s prior to arrival in Israel.

Applicants must have sufficient proficiency in the written and spoken language of the host country to communicate with the people and to carry out the proposed study. Such proficiency is especially important to students wishing to undertake projects in the social sciences and the humanities. An applicant is usually considered to be "proficient," if he has completed two years of university study.

An applicant is ineligible if:

• he has already held a Fulbright full grant administered by IIE. However, grantees who have held travel-only grants are eligible to apply for a Fulbright full grant, provided that three years have elapsed since the first grant.
• he has been a full-time permanent employee of the United States Information Agency for the 12 month period prior to the date of the application. This limitation also applies to members or their immediate families (i.e., spouses and dependent children). Part-time or temporary employees of the above should check with IIE.
• he is an employee of any agency involved in administering the educational and cultural exchange programs of the United States Information Agency. Members of an exmployee's immediate families, should check with IIE about their eligibility.

NOTE: for most grants, applicants who have had extensive previous foreign experience are at a disadvantage, but they are not necessarily disqualified for that reason.

Application Process

Applications are available online. It is vital that the first step in applying is to complete the notification procedure at the Embark website. This will assure that a message is generated to BU's campus Fulbright Program Advisor in the Office of the Provost. After the notification proceure is complete you will be able to secure access to the application form. Applications will be reviewed and applicants will be interviewed by the University Fulbright and DAAD Committee. The Committee will score applications. All applications will be forwarded to IIE for consideration in October. IIE submits applications to country-specific or region-specific study sections for review. Study sections determine which applications are to be forwarded to the intended travel country for final consideration. Applicants are usually notified if they have been recommended for further consideration in February. Notification of winners may not be until mid-summer in some cases. Further information is available on the web site.

Award Value and Conditions

Fulbright Full Grants generally provide round-trip transportation; language or orientation courses, where appropriate; tuition, in some cases; book and research allowances; maintenance for the academic year, based on living costs in the host country; and supplemental health and accident insurance. Fulbright Full Grants are payable in local currency or U.S. dollars, depending on the country of assignment.

Fulbright Travel Grants provide round-trip transportation to the country where the student will pursue studies for an academic year, supplemental health and accident insurance, and the cost of an orientation course abroad, if applicable.

Additional information can be obtained from the IIE web site.