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K-State Today

August 22, 2013

Fulbright Senior Specialist Program provides short-term international travel

Submitted by John Leslie

Interested in traveling overseas on a Fulbright, but don't want to go for a year or a semester? The Fulbright Senior Specialist program may be for you. This program allows tenured and tenure-track academics to travel outside the U.S. to more than 140 countries for two to six weeks at the invitation of a foreign academic institution. Travel expenses, per diem — meals and housing — and a small honorarium, currently $200 per day, are provided by either the Fulbright program or the host institution to selected applicants.

Selected applicants must be U.S. citizens living in the United States with a terminal degree in their specialty area and at least five years of experience in teaching or research beyond the terminal degree. See eligibility requirements. Most commonly, these appointments go to tenured associate or full professors. A list of academic areas eligible for these teaching and research awards are online. Many K-State faculty across a broad range of disciplines work in one or more of these areas.

Applications are reviewed for listing on an eligibility roster on a rolling basis. Incomplete applications are maintained in the system for one year. Applications require two professional references, one of whom normally is your department head or chair and the other is from a colleague at an institution other than K-State who is familiar with your work, before they are complete. Applications are peer-reviewed and when approved are included on a roster that is made available through the Fulbright program for five years.

Host institutions worldwide have access to the roster and can submit applications to their local Fulbright commission for funds to support candidates in whom they are interested. Australian institutions have until Oct. 28 to apply for these positions. Dates of selection vary by country and, occasionally, by subject matter area.

Fulbright fellowships are an important award in the 2025 strategic plan. Senior Specialist awards are an effective way for established academics to build on and expand their international networks and academic activities.