Faculty/Staff

Fulbright Portfolio of Programs

The Fulbright Program has many grant variations in its portfolio to accommodate a wide range of interests, abilities, and availability.

The Traditional Fulbright Scholar program annually sends 800 U.S. faculty and professionals to teach or conduct research in many countries around the world.

  • Grants cover periods of two months to an academic year.
  • Approximately 75 percent are lecturing or lecturing/research grants; 25 percent are pure research grants.
  • Outside francophone Africa and Latin America, English language skills are usually sufficient.
  • Fulbright grants may be combined with sabbatical leave which gives the advantages of preparing a single project proposal and of retaining University health and retirement benefits.
  • Grants may be taken on unpaid study leave, but it is important to discuss this with your department head before applying.
  • While grants are administered by the Washington-based Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), the Fulbright office at Penn State provides application and editing assistance, beginning with this workshop.
  • A very limited number of postdoctoral or "junior" grants are available.

The deadline to apply for traditional grants for an academic year usually August 1 of the preceeding year.

NEXUS Regional Scholar Program:

The Fulbright Regional Network for Applied Research (NEXUS) Program brings together a network of junior scholars, professionals and mid-career applied researchers from the United States and other Western Hemisphere nations for a series of three seminar meetings and a Fulbright exchange experience. This is a collaborative scholarly exchange that will be multi-national, multi-disciplinary, and multi-sectoral in scope; it will encourage the formation of new networks of scholars, practitioners and applied researchers, thereby fostering concrete collaborative ventures with long-term regional impact.

The Distinguished Chair Awards:

CIES offers 37 Distinguished Chair lecturing and lecturing/research awards in 18 countries. Candidates for these grants, which have enhanced benefits, must and have a prominent record of scholarly accomplishment. Applicants need only submit a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae, and a sample syllabus by May 1, and may by considered for a traditional grant if not accepted for the Distinguished Chairs program.

The Senior Specialist Program

Provides short-term opportunities (two to six weeks, with possible serial grants) for grantees to undertake activities such as teacher training, developing and/or assessing curricula or educational materials, leading seminars or workshops, taking part in specialized academic programs, conducting needs assessments/surveys/research, or providing other assistance as identified by an overseas host institution. This program has a rolling application deadline.

Seminars for International Education Administrators

Seminars are offered for those who work in international education. These two- to three-week sessions in Germany, Japan, or Korea are designed to introduce participants to the society, culture, and higher education systems of these countries through campus visits, meetings with foreign colleagues and government officials, attendance at cultural events, and briefings on education. This program and the German Studies Seminar, below, require only a master's degree.

The German Studies Seminar

Seminar is designed for U.S. scholars of German studies and of disciplines related to a specific thematic focus. Participants will examine the political, social, and economic institutions of Germany. The seminar's perspective is interdisciplinary; applications are invited from scholars of German language and literature, German history, political science, and other humanities and social sciences related to the seminar topic. The program begins in Berlin and includes visits to other cities in eastern and western Germany.