Fulbright Grants for Study/Research

Fulbright Study/Research grants generally provide round-trip transportation; book and research allowances; maintenance for the academic year, based on living costs in the host country; supplemental health and accident coverage; tuition, in some cases; and language or orientation courses, where appropriate.

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens at the time of application.
• Applicants must hold a Bachelor's degree or the equivalent before the start of the grant.
• Applicants may not hold a doctoral degree at the time of application, but may hold a J.D. degree.
• Applicants must be in good health. Grantees will be required to submit a satisfactory Certificate of Health from a physician.
• Applicants should have sufficient proficiency in the written and spoken language of the host country to communicate with the people and to carry out the proposed study/research. Such proficiency is especially important for students wishing to undertake projects in the social sciences and the humanities.
• Preference will be given to those applicants whose higher education was undertaken primarily at educational institutions in the United States. Foreign study during the junior year or other periods of undergraduate study that are integral parts of the curricula of American institutions will not be considered a disadvantage.
• Preference will be given to those applicants who have not resided or studied for more than six months in the country to which they are applying for.
• Applicants should be aware that the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs is involved with the campus review process.  Students with serious social or academic violations, such as those that are included as part of their permanent record at Bowdoin, are advised to consult with the Director of Student Fellowships and Research early in the process.  Students may also consult with their dean for guidance.

For complete details please visit the "Eligibility" portion of the Fulbright website.

If you are a rising senior or alum interested in learning more about Fulbright opportunities and the Bowdoin process, please reach out to Cindy Stocks (cstocks@bowdoin.edu) to request access to the Bowdoin Fulbright Canvas resource.

Bowdoin’s Canvas resource contains a wealth of Bowdoin-specific information including short videos, info sessions with alumni, application guidance, and checklists to help you decide if Fulbright is the right fit for you. We typically ask prospective applicants to review Modules 1-3 ahead of an initial advising meeting.

If you decide to apply, Canvas will be the way we communicate with the applicant cohort regarding important deadlines and reminders throughout the process. Therefore, please ensure your Canvas notification settings are configured appropriately.

All applicants who are certain they will apply for a Fulbright grant in the current application cycle must complete the Student Fellowships and Research Office's Intent to Submit form (available in Canvas) by the deadline noted above. This brief form requires applicants to 1) confirm the grant type and host country to which they will apply, and 2) sign and submit a Permission Form and Waiver document. (Note: the Permission Form and Waiver document requires a signature from a witness. A witness can be anyone over the age of 18, such as a friend, roommate, coach, or faculty member.)

Completing the Intent to Submit process makes an applicant eligible to move forward in Bowdoin's process and meet the next major milestone, the initial application.

If you plan to complete the Intent to Submit process but are not yet in touch with the SFR Office about your interest in Fulbright, please contact Cindy Stocks (cstocks@bowdoin.edu) as soon as possible.

Application

By the initial Bowdoin deadline, applicants must:

1) "Lock" their Fulbright S/R application through the online application system. The application includes the following:

• Biographical data
• Statement of Grant Purpose
• Short Answer questions
• Affiliation letter(s) in English or translated into English, on letterhead, and signed.  (Note:  some projects may require multiple letters of affiliations.  Please contact Cindy Stocks  with questions.)
• Foreign language evaluation (if applicable)
• Foreign language self-evaluation (if applicable)
• Three references (letters, in English, on letterhead, signed and electronically submitted)
• Unofficial academic history from Workday. You can download a copy of your unofficial academic history from Workday using these instructions. 

2) Sign up for a campus interview. (The SFR Office will contact you to schedule this interview around the time of the initial Bowdoin deadline.)

Note: When you "lock" your online application through the Fulbright portal for the initial Bowdoin deadline, your application WILL NOT go to Fulbright; it will ONLY be seen by SFR. The SFR office will make a PDF of your online application, share it with the campus Fulbright committee, and then electronically "unlock" your application to you, usually several days after the initial Bowdoin deadline. You may continue to polish your application until the final Bowdoin deadline, when you will resubmit it electronically.

For guidance about Fulbright’s online application, formatting requirements, recommendation process, and more, see Fulbright’s Tips for S/R applications and Bowdoin's Fulbright Canvas resource.

Interview

Fulbright requires Bowdoin to interview every applicant. Around the same time as the initial Bowdoin deadline, students will sign up for individual interview slots. These 20-minute interviews are conducted by members of Bowdoin's internal campus committee who have read the initial applications and are knowledgeable about the Fulbright program. Following each interview, members of the committee will complete a Fulbright Campus Committee Evaluation (CCE) form for each applicant, addressing the candidate’s qualifications and suitability to his or her chosen country. This CCE form will be attached to your final application but like a recommendation, you will not have access to it.

Immediately following the 20-minute interview, students will receive 10 minutes of feedback from the committee. Students will then have the opportunity to revise their applications using this feedback.  Please know that Bowdoin does not narrow down the applicant pool through the interview process.

Revision process

Applicants can revise their applications up until the final Bowdoin deadline, incorporating interview feedback, any new experiences, and ensuring any typos or errors are corrected on the application itself.  

The final Bowdoin deadline is several days in advance of the official Fulbright deadline found on the Fulbright website. This gives SFR time to upload the CCE forms and double-check all components of the application. Bowdoin students must meet the final Bowdoin deadline.

By the final Bowdoin deadline (which is several days earlier that the official Fulbright deadline posted on the Fulbright website), applicants must "lock" their final Fulbright S/R application through the online application system.

Applicants should pay close attention to Fulbright’s instructions about the S/R application, following all guidance around preferred content, formatting, and more, as listed in the Tips for S/R Programs page. Bowdoin's Fulbright Canvas resourcce also provides extensive advice for putting the finishing touches on applications.

Final Deadline Schedule:

• Final Bowdoin Deadline (see above) – In order for the SFR office to review students' applications and allow them to make any final tweaks before submitting, students must "lock" their applications by this deadline.
• Week Following Final Bowdoin Deadline – We review each application and contact students individually with minor changes/suggestions or the all-clear to submit their application to Fulbright. 

Fulbright will convene a National Screening Committee from November through December. There are sub-committees divided by countries/regions who consider all the S/R applications to each country. These reviewers are often academics and will have expertise in the given country/region, and determine which applications are recommended for final consideration in the host countries. They typically put forward to the host country reviewers twice as many final applications as there are grants available.

In January, Fulbright will send all Bowdoin applicants Initial Notifications stating whether or not they have been “recommended” (meaning they are a finalist being considered directly now by the country), or “not recommended” (meaning they are no longer in the competition).

Occasionally a host country may request a brief follow up interview, conducted by phone or Zoom, which students arrange with the host country directly. Please inform SFR if your host country has asked for such an interview.

Fulbright sends out Final Selection Notifications country by country, typically between mid-March and the end of May, depending on the in-country process and timing. Applicants will be notified by email if they have been selected, designated as an alternate, or not selected. Please inform SFR when you have been notified by Fulbright of your status.