Fulbright Science and Technology Award Winners Announced
Recipients of prestigious scholarship come from 27 countries

"The Fulbright Program aims to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby to increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship."

                                         - J. William Fulbright

Students from 27 countries have been named as recipients of a new science and technology scholarship for doctorate degree study at leading U.S. universities, Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes announced November 21.

The announcement of the prestigious Fulbright awards following on the first U.S. higher education delegation trip to East Asia and the news that the United States has reversed a post-September 11 drop in student visa demand, "underscores our message that the U.S. government and higher education system welcome talented international students," a State Department spokesman said.

Hughes announced the creation of the new award program in January at the University Presidents Summit on International Education, which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings co-hosted. Rice outlined her vision of a more active role for the U.S. government in its collaboration with the nongovernmental sector in promoting American higher education internationally. (See related article.)

"We want to open minds, to foster debate and dialogue, to encourage the pursuit of knowledge," Hughes said at the summit.

Forty-four percent of the winners of the new Fulbright scholarship are women.

The 2006 recipients come from Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Nepal, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Korea, St. Lucia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda and Venezuela.

Rice recently called the Fulbright Program, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2006, the "flagship international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government."

The Fulbright Program awards about 6,000 grants annually to students and scholars from more than 150 countries. During the 60 years of its existence, the program has awarded grants to more than 275,000 individuals - three-fifths of them non-Americans - to study, teach and conduct research.

In the words of the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, the program he authored "aims to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby to increase the chance that nations will learn at last to live in peace and friendship."

This year Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh became the 35th Fulbright alumnus to win a Nobel Prize. Yunus, who credited his year as a Fulbright graduate student in economics at Vanderbilt University in 1965-1966 for expanding his sense of possibilities, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering and championing the practice of microcredit and microfinance to create opportunities for the poor.

Former Fulbright recipients include 65 winners of the Pulitzer Prize, which is awarded for achievement in print journalism, literary works and music.

Unlike most Fulbright scholarships, which are awarded through bilateral programs between the United States and a specific country, the new science and technology scholarships are awarded through a single worldwide competition.

According to the State Department, recipients of the new science and technology awards were chosen "through a rigorous, multi-tiered, merit-based selection process consisting of in-country competition and review, field and discipline merit review by top-level U.S. academic leaders, and nomination by a blue ribbon advisory panel, including a Nobel Laureate and university deans and presidents."

Final selection was made by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

For additional information, see Fulbright Program.

Source: U.S. Department of State

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You want to know more about Fulbright Program: http://exchanges.state.gov/education/fulbright/

The flagship international educational program sponsored by the United States Government, the Fulbright Program is designed to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries..." With this goal, the Fulbright Program has provided approximately 275,000 participants  chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential  with the opportunity to observe each others' political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas and to embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world's inhabitants.

The Fulbright Program provides grants for Graduate Students, Scholars and Professionals, and Teachers and Administrators from the U.S. and other countries.

For further information, contact:
Office of Academic Exchange Programs
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
U.S. Department of State, SA-44
301 4th Street, S.W., Room 234
Washington, D.C. 20547
tel: (202) 453-8135
fax: (202) 453-8125
e-mail: academic@state.gov

About the Fulbright Program

Program History

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by then Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State.

Approximately 267,500 "Fulbrighters," 100,900 from the United States and 166,600 from other countries, have participated in the Program since its inception over fifty years ago. The Fulbright Program awards approximately 6,000 new grants annually.

Currently, the Fulbright Program operates in over 150 countries worldwide.

Program Funding

The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation by the United States Congress to the Department of State. Participating governments and host institutions in foreign countries and in the United States also contribute financially through cost-sharing and indirect support, such as salary supplements, tuition waivers, university housing, etc.

The Congressional appropriation for the Fulbright Program in fiscal year 2005 was $144.5 million. Foreign governments, through binational commissions or foundations abroad, contributed an additional $37 million directly to the Program.

Program Administration

The Fulbright Program is administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State under policy guidelines established by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FSB) and in cooperation with a number of private organizations.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is responsible for the U.S. government's overseas educational, cultural and informational programs.

The J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board is composed of twelve educational and public leaders appointed by the President of the United States to formulate the policies, procedures and selection criteria that govern the Fulbright Program. The Board also selects the grantees for Fulbright awards.

Binational commissions and foundations abroad propose the annual country programs, which establish the numbers and categories of grants based on requests from local institutions. In a country without a commission or foundation, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy develops and supervises the Fulbright Program. Currently, 50 commissions are active, 48 of which are funded jointly by the United States and respective governments. Each commission or foundation has a board, which is composed of an equal number of Americans and citizens of the participating nation.

Some Fulbright programs are administered directly by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Others are administered with the assistance of cooperating agencies. Foreign citizens interested in the Fulbright Program should contact the Fulbright Commission or Foundation in their home country or, where no commission exists, the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy.