All Disciplines

The U.S. Scholar Program to Russia has been suspended for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years. While we are currently accepting applications for the 2023-2024 academic year, events in the region may impact the status of the program and we will continue to keep this page updated.

The Fulbright Program in Russia has existed for nearly half a century and has established a strong and positive reputation among institutions of higher education, government agencies, and the Russian public in the Program’s pursuit of mutual understanding between United States and Russian citizens and institutions. Today, there are more than 2,300 Russian Program Alumni and over 1,200 U.S. Alumni many of whom remain active supporters of the program and maintain ties with their host institutions and the many friends that they have made while on the program.

Geo-political relations between the United States and the Russian Federation have fluctuated greatly in the three decades of Russian Federation statehood. Nevertheless, the Fulbright Program continues to place U.S. grantees in safe, vibrant, and welcoming communities and in supportive and engaging academic institutions in all parts of the Russian Federation.

The Fulbright Program Office in Russia, which has been in place for over two decades and is staffed by highly experienced academic exchange specialists, welcomes applications to the Fulbright Scholar Program from scholars of diverse social, academic, and vocational backgrounds and does not insist that participants speak Russian, have prior experience in the Russian Federation, or have Ph.D.’s. While there are academic research projects that require near fluency in Russian and a high level of experience in Russian academic research settings, many US scholars who have successfully participated in the program have taught a variety of courses in English in a range of Russian academic departments (English-taught courses are in high demand in Russia as it globalizes its higher educational system).

Good general information about Russia can also be found via the links below:

• Federal Agency on Tourism - RF Travel and Tourism
• Ministry of Education website about higher education in Russia for international students -
  • Discover Russia
  • Information about RF cities and universities
  • Everyday life (health, safety, transportation, prices, climate etc)
• U.S. Embassy in Russia - Resources for U.S. Citizens

Core Program

The core program is open to both academics and professionals. The academic year in Russia consists of two semesters, generally beginning the first week of September and the first week of February. Affiliations are available at a wide range of Russian academic institutions, and recent successful affiliations have been at institutions in Belgorod, Irkutsk, Izhevsk, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Perm, Petrozavodsk, Pskov, Rostov-on-Don, Tomsk, Tula, Tyumen, Vladivostok, Vologda, Volgograd, Voronezh, Ulan-Ude, Yekaterinburg and Yoshkar-Ola, among others.

The Fulbright Program Office in Moscow will consider placement requests based on prior academic contacts, if available, between scholars and proposed host institutions. However, final placements will be determined by the Fulbright Office. Only a limited number of research awards will be awarded for Moscow and St. Petersburg. Scholars should expect to remain primarily in a single host city/institution, and they should not expect split affiliations or significant travel to secondary cities for research or lecturing purposes. Scholars traveling with children have successfully enrolled their children at a variety of English and Russian language schools, depending upon their needs.

All scholars are required to enter Russia on a U.S. passport with a Russian visa.