Fulbright Grant
Application Guidelines
(Also, the
online application includes instructions that guide you through the application.)
Application Instructions
Page 2: Fellowships: Honors, Publications, Extracurricular Activities
If formatting allows, separate information by:
listing in rows if possible OR divided information using semi-colon and space – briefly explain if title is not self-explanatory:
Emerson Grant (student/faculty research collaboration incorporating field work on refugees in Israel)
Debate Team (co-captain)
Habitat for Humanity (participant and site leader in South Carolina)
Future Plans: (upon returning to US):
Be specific. E.G., I will begin work in the field of mental health with a social service agency
Specifically dealing with...I plan to...
If possible to tie future plans to your Fulbright proposal – MAKE THE CONNECTION!
Abstract of Proposal:
Be specific – A brief, concise description of what you will do.
This proposals aims to gain an understanding of ...
This research proposal in the biology department at ... will examine...
Page 3: Fellowships: Honors, Publications, Extracurricular Activities
(repeat of page 2, but more space provided here)
Section should be easy to read: divide information by heading and spacing –
Honors:
Research:…
Briefly explain if title is not self-explanatory.
Page 4: Occupational Experience
- Use reverse chronology (MOST RECENT EXPERIENCE FIRST is the best way to list information)
- Foreign Experience (if applicable): reverse chronology – dates, location, reason
The point is to make all of this information easy to read and to refer back to –
rather than a jumble of information.
ESSAYS
Choosing Your Place and Your Project. The key to a good Fulbright application is in the academic validity of your project. That means you must have a very good academic reason for going where you propose to go. It is not enough to propose a good academic program in Brazil if you have no academic reason for pursuing that program there. The best reason to go to any particular country is that you could study a subject there better than anywhere else, perhaps because there is an expert in the field who teaches there. Seek your mentors' advice so that you can choose your destination well, and make sure there is a good fit between the project and the place.
AFFILIATION
If you are applying for a Fulbright Grant to study, conduct research or carry out an independent project you must arrange an affiliation with a university or with some other appropriate individual, institution, organization or entity in the country of your destination. E-mail makes this much easier than it sounds. Correspondence with individuals doing work relevant to your interests may provide feedback and information that helps to formulate your proposal. Once you have carefully chosen your project and your place, ask the appropriate if he/she would be willing to oversee your work (to accept you as a student or as an assistant in their lab or whatever) if you were to be awarded a Fulbright Grant.
This takes courteous persistence and requires that you follow up on all leads.
AFFILIATION/PLACEMENT
All grantees
must have a host country affiliation. Types of affiliations vary, and may include universities, laboratories, libraries, non-governmental organizations, and others. Grantees are usually affiliated with institutions of higher learning in the host countries. Conditions concerning affiliation vary. See
Participating Countries in the Fulbright book for specifics.
Some countries or awards may require acceptance of arranged institutional placements. However, applicants may indicate preferences for placement on the application form.
Some countries may require that students arrange their own affiliations.
If you are arranging your own affiliation, request letters of support from host-country affiliations early in the process, and include acceptances with the application packet.
These letters must be sent by fax or pdf and MUST be on letterhead and include writer's signature.
Applicants in the creative and performing arts and applicants proposing independent research as well as applicants proposing full-time study,
must indicate potential or arranged affiliations in their
Statement of Proposed Study or Research.
Teaching Assistantship placements are arranged by Fulbright Commissions in the host country. Do not indicate affiliations or preferences.
U.S. Program Affiliation: Only rarely will grantees be permitted to enroll in the graduate programs of American universities abroad. The objectives of the Fulbright Program are best served by attendance at a foreign university.
Page 6: Statement of Proposed Study
This statement lays out your year abroad and is the linchpin of your application.
"Describe your study or research plans and your reasons for wishing to undertake them in the country of your choice. Outline a plan that realistically can be completed in one academic year abroad. Graduating seniors, applicants in the creative or performing arts, and applicants for teaching awards are not expected to formulate detailed research projects. Graduating seniors should describe the study programs they wish to follow in terms as specific as possible."
"All candidates should submit projects indicating in detail their reasons for choosing a particular country, the form their work will take, the results they hope to obtain, and the contribution that a foreign experience will have on their future development."
The project essay for a Research Grant, might follow this format:
2) Explain why this course is worth pursuing and the "results you hope to obtain."
3) Explain why on the basis of your undergraduate course work or other experience you are qualified to do it.
4) Say what steps you have taken or will take to investigate the program of study and to secure an affiliation with the institution of your choice. (Have you written for or received information regarding faculty, courses, library or other facilities? Do you have an application?) Include in your application any letter indicating that you will be welcome to the institution.
5) Explain how the program of studies relates to your future career interests.
Your statement should be as specific as possible. Four content areas are typical:
- Thesis paragraph summarizing your entire proposal.
- Answer the questions: WHAT, WHERE, WHY, HOW, WHEN
- Think of the first paragraph of the proposal as a news article.
- Set up your proposal and define your project in this paragraph. Get specific: identify the university
- or institution (museum school, etc.) you will attend, or the research project you will conduct or the
- independent study you will pursue (indicate the specific research topic or intellectual issue you might
- focus on and explain why what you propose to do is especially suited to that institution in that country.
You must present a feasible project that necessitates a presence in the host country.
2.
Broad statement of your research topic. Before you lay out your project, you want to interest your reader in the broad subject you hope to research. Say you are applying to study the work of an adult literacy organization in New Delhi. Before discussing the nuts and bolts of your project, you would want to broadly interest your reader in illiteracy in India. You should cite statistics and other relevant work to demonstrate the magnitude of the problem---in other words, this section of your proposal needs to be researched.
3.
Project statement. This is the heart of your essay, in which you lay out the specifics of your project.
Here you will want to answer the following basic questions:
What are you proposing to study/research? Specifically explain what you will investigate, study, teach, research…
Where you will study and why it is imperative that you travel to country X, cite compelling reasons to be there
Why it is important to you, compelling to pursue this project/conduct this research/teach English, etc.
How you will carry out your project, methodology, plan of action
When you plan to carry out your project, time frame. State the duration of your project (based on the academic year for host country, info found in Fulbright book country summary)
Identify preliminary contacts and their significance to your proposal. Avoid using jargon.
Someone with no knowledge of your area of study should be able to understand your proposal.
Supply relevant information: language facility (if applicable), time frame for project, and all information that lends to the feasibility of your plan.
4.
Defense of your project: As a critical reviewer reads your proposal, he or she is going to form potential objections to your project. Are your language skills sufficient? Will you have access to the research resources you say you need? Is your project dangerous or politically sensitive? Is your project too broad in scope to be accomplished in nine or 10 months time? Do you have the requisite skills and foundation to successfully pursue the project? Have you secured or at least identified useful in-country support/affiliation? You should anticipate some of these questions and speak to them in your proposal.
English Teaching Assistantship Applications
Students applying for teaching assistant positions are not expected to present extensive research plans. Rather, they should describe for the reviewers:
Why you would like to undertake a teaching assistant assignment. THIS IS KEY! Be specific and enthusiastic about why you want to teach English in a particular country. TURN UP THE HEAT ON WHY YOU WANT TO TEACH ENGLISH THERE!
Share the qualifications and experiences which relate to teaching English – think inclusively – tutor, TA, camp counselor, being a language student yourself...
How do you expect to benefit from the assignment and what use will you make of the experience upon their return to the U.S.
If you are conducting an independent project on the side (some countries require this), be specific about what you will do, how you will go about it… Caveat: Be sure to make it clear that any independent project or research will not interfere with the ETA responsibilities.
What use they will make of their time outside the classroom. (Most ETAs work no more than 20 hours per week.) This may include the side project / research mentioned above or it may include other ways to be a part of the community in which you live.
Page 7: Curriculum Vitae (Personal Statement)
This statement provides a picture of you as a person, an intellectual biography.
It gives you an opportunity to connect the dots.
"This statement should be a narrative giving a picture of you as an individual. It should deal with your personal history, family background, influences on your intellectual development, the educational and cultural opportunities (or lack of them) to which you have been exposed,
and the ways in which these experiences have affected you. Also include your special interests and abilities, career plans, and life goals, etc. It should not be a recording of facts already listed on the application or an elaboration of your statement of proposed study."
Connect the dots: Readers should be able to see the roots of your project, what influenced, inspired, sparked your interest in your project topic? Discuss the influences, personal, academic, professional that bring you to this project.
Discuss the relevant skills and background that you bring to the project. How did you acquire
them --- academic programs, internships, research, employment, etc.? How does the project inform or how is it connected to your future academic and professional plans? Connect the dots!
Be sure to include personal information that is relevant...
AND be sure to include your passion and your enthusiasm for the project.
This essay gives you the chance to present yourself as intellectually alive and culturally aware, a tactful person of goodwill who will make an excellent ambassador in the Fulbright year. Explain how your proposed program of studies or teaching assignment relates to your personal intellectual growth at the close of your undergraduate years. Stress any special intellectual interests, avocations, artistic or musical abilities that you could develop or contribute during your Fulbright year. Coordinate this personal essay with the project statement, so that they complement and do not repeat each other.
ENGAGEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY
The primary aim of the Fulbright Program is to further mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries. Demonstrate a clear commitment to the host country community. Becoming involved in the local community will contribute significantly to this goal and will enhance your experience in many ways.
Speak to this point and include some examples of how you might interact with your host community through volunteer and extra-curricular activities. This may be done in the proposal if involvements are related to your proposal or in the personal statement if activities are outside of your proposal.
A bibliography?
Since applicant's Statements can not exceed two pages, a formal bibliography is not necessary; however, if background data is provided it is appropriate to briefly cite sources, within the two pages.
A Final word on proposal and cv:
Both essays must be well thought out and clearly presented.
Organize your statement carefully. Don't make reviewers search for information. We urge you to have several people read and critique your Statement including a faculty adviser, a faculty member outside your discipline, a fellow student, and/or a colleague. It would be ideal to have a host country academic/artist review your proposal for refinement and issues of host country sensitivity/security.
Additional information:
Languages. It is usually expected that you know the language of the country to which you are applying. The major exception to this rule is if you are going to be working in an international laboratory where English is the language of the lab. There are also countries where university courses are commonly taught in English and where you may not need the local language to carry out your project, though of course you will want to communicate with your neighbors when you are not actually studying – so explaining your plan to acquire hospitality and survival skills in the language of your host country is important. Otherwise, you must be prepared to do your work in the language of the country, and the level of competence required may vary from country to country.
When applicable a foreign language report is part of the application and must be filled out by a teacher of the language you propose to speak.
Letters of Recommendation. Three references are required. They should be from professors in your major field. Make sure you supply those who are writing for you with up-to-date information about your project, because they must comment not only on the work you may have done for them in the past but on the academic validity of your project, on its feasibility in terms of resources available abroad, and on your ability to carry out the project. If you are applying after a year of study abroad, you may ask for a reference from one of the professors you had during your junior year, but make sure that your referee knows what kind of information is asked for on the form, and make sure their mailed response (no e-mail or fax) can arrive at Hamilton College on time.
Letters may be written on letterhead instead of on the form, but you must complete the top portion of the form and your reference writers must complete the bottom portion. All letters must be sent to Ginny Dosch at Hamilton College, who will send them along with your application to the Institute of International Education in NYC.
All materials for the Fulbright application must be submitted by the Student Fellowships Coordinator.
Official Fulbright deadline: Monday, October 19.
That is the day students return from Fall Break. There's a lot of traffic on the Fulbright site the day of the deadline.
Let's work to submit your application on Wednesday, October 14!
We can do it!
