Engaging Early Career Academics: New Fulbright Postdoc Opportunities
“My Fulbright experience has certainly changed my life and has helped immensely in furthering my career. The impact was evident in the responses I received for applications to new positions after my Fulbright research was complete. I ended up taking a very prestigious position for my next postdoc which I would not have been able to get had it not been for the Fulbright award. This is the kind of impact which will propagate throughout my career and I am very fortunate to have had this opportunity.”
- Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Israel, Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
The Fulbright Scholar Program, and its sponsor, the U.S. Department of State, are eager to engage postdoctoral and early career academics through new opportunities in a range of countries and fields. Postdoctoral/early career grants target U.S. scholars who have recently completed their doctoral degrees – typically within the five previous years. There has never been a better time to apply for Fulbright U.S. Scholar awards open to early career academics, with over 170 awards in more than 80 countries worldwide offered for the 2014-2015 academic year.
In addition to primary research or teaching activities, postdoctoral and early career scholars will be asked to give public talks, mentor students, and otherwise engage with the host country academic community. Fulbright Scholars will also be expected to connect with graduate students in the host country and to be involved with host university training in cutting edge research in their specializations. Grant lengths range from one semester to 20 months, depending on the host country. There are also flexible options available to scholars currently unable to spend extended periods of time abroad.
Postdoctoral awards are available in all fields of study, from STEM, to the arts, humanities and social sciences. Public health scholars should take special note of the Fulbright-Fogarty Postdoctoral Awards for research at a National Institutes of Health Fogarty site in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi or Zimbabwe through the African Regional Research Program, or in South Africa, Bangladesh or Peru.
The Fulbright Scholar Program presents excellent opportunities for recently minted scholars to deepen their expertise, to acquire new skills, to work with additional resources and to make connections with others in their fields, all while serving as cultural ambassadors and meeting the public diplomacy intent of the Fulbright Program – to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. To learn more, visit the Catalog of Awards or contact scholars@iie.org.