The Fulbright Commission for Educational Exchange offers approximately 35 scholarships annually for study, teaching and research in the United States at the post-doctoral level. The awards vary from round-trip travel to grants covering all expenses for an academic year. Fulbright Schuman grants are open to citizens of all 28 EU Member States. If you have questions about this grant, please contactadviser@fulbright.be
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: DECEMBER 1.
Please note that these grants are limited to projects dealing with U.S.-EU relations or EU affairs.
Types of grants available: grants for
- Pre-Doctoral Research
- Post-Doctoral Research
- University Lecturing
Awards are available to candidates from any of the Member States wishing to study, research, or lecture on a topic relevant to U.S.-EU relations, EU policy, or EU institutions. The results of eligible projects must be relevant to at least two EU member states; projects that do not meet this requirement should be submitted through the Fulbright Program in the applicant’s country of citizenship. Prior to submitting their application, candidates must arrange their own placement at an accredited university, vocational training/professional institution, or independent research center in the United States. Candidates may propose to stay at more than one institution during their grant, although they should provide a clear plan and justification for doing so.
Student grants are normally for a minimum period of one academic year. However, applications for pre-doctoral research for a minimum period of 6 months will also be considered.
Research and lecturing awards are for a minimum period of 3 months, maximum one academic year, with preference being given to projects of four months duration.
Eligibility
Candidates must :
- demonstrate academic excellence
- be individually interviewed in English
- be apt to benefit from the academic opportunity offered to them
- be good representatives of their own country while they are in the United States
- Proficiency in English and a minimum of three months experience in two or more Member States is required.
- Preference will be given to candidates with two years of relevant professional or academic experience beyond the Bachelor’s degree. EU professionals and professionals in training (decision-makers, policy-makers, individuals in industry, the media, politics, academia, and public administration) are encouraged to apply. Grantees are expected to return to their own country upon completion of the project for which the award was made.
Please Note:
- The Commission reserves the right to deem candidates with professional ties to Community institutions ineligible to apply.
- Candidates in the United States at the time of application are not eligible to apply.
- EU citizens are only allowed to apply for one Fulbright grant per year. Applicants may not simultaneously submit applications for a Fulbright Schuman award and a Fulbright award administered by their local commission.
- European candidates must travel to the U.S. on a J-1 visa, so dual U.S./EU citizens are not eligible to apply for the EU award. If interested, dual citizens may apply to the U.S. Fulbright Schuman program at http://us.fulbrightonline.org/ orhttp://www.cies.org/fulbrightagency.htm.
- Departures normally take place between August 1 and March 31. Special authorization must be sought in order to leave at another time of the year.
- Applications for study and research should be made while candidates are in correspondence with specific institutions concerning affiliation and financial support. No awards can be confirmed until candidates have submitted written evidence that they will dispose of adequate funds to carry out their plans in the United States.
- Scholars who have previously held a J visa in the professor or research scholar category are not eligible for sponsorship again in those two categories for a period of 24 months following the program sponsorship end date.
- Recipients of Commission awards must travel on U.S. Government-sponsored “Exchange Visitor” J visas. They may not travel on any other. Please note that anyone admitted as an Exchange Visitor to the United States must return to his/her country of permanent legal residency for two years before returning to the United States as a permanent resident, temporary worker or trainee, or intra-company transferee. A list of documents that fulfill the proof of legal residency requirement for each EU country can be found here:http://prado.consilium.europa.eu/en/searchByIssuingCountry.html. If you are able to provide proof of legal residency for a country other than your country of citizenship, you will need to include a scan of this document in the final online application.
- Candidates to study must have completed a cycle of education beyond the secondary level at a recognized institution, with outstanding academic results.
- Applications for study and research should be made while candidates are in correspondence with specific institutions concerning affiliation and financial support. No awards can be confirmed until candidates have submitted written evidence that they will dispose of adequate funds to carry out their plans in the United States.
Examples of previous applicants
Click here to see examples of previous successful applicants
Value of Award
- A monthly stipend of the dollar equivalent of € 3,000 for those with a PhD or mid-career professionals and a monthly stipend of the dollar equivalent of € 2,000 for those working on their PhD. The monthly grant amount is 3000 Euros which will be converted is local currency at the exchange rates in force on the day of payment. Our goal is to avoid as much as possible exchange rate differences and high-cost internationals transfers, as well as meet requirements of participants. The European Community who subsidizes the Fulbright-Schuman program is very strict about the exchange rate. We must use the exchange rate published by the European bank on the day of transfer. As we do an automatic order (using the exchange rate of the date of the first instalment), we have to regularize the exchange differences on the final installment.
- An allowance of € 2,000 for travel and relocation costs
- J-1 visa sponsorship
- Sickness and accident insurance
The maximum grant to any one candidate is set at € 29,000. No candidate may receive Fulbright Schuman funding in concurrence with other EC funding (i.e. Marie Curie) for the same activity
Application Process
Interested applicants can complete the form starting September 15-November 30, 2015. For those who advance to the final round a mandatory Skype interview is required. Applicants will be notified in late February.
PLEASE NOTE: Applicants need to put “European Union” as the country when they are applying to embark!
Application links (Sept 15-Dec 1):
FOREIGN FULBRIGHT STUDENTS (no PhD):
https://apply.embark.com/student/fulbright/international/20/
FOREIGN FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS (will have a PhD by time of departure for the US):
https://apply.embark.com/student/fulbright/scholars/30/
Interview date
January 2016: Interview date for Fulbright-Schuman applicants (via Skype only)
Grants are also available for International Educators.
For a list of non-Fulbright grants, please check the following page.