Czech students, scholars and teachers can obtain a financial support for their study, research, and teaching stays in the United States through the following scholarship and grant programs.
Grants are based on selection procedure individual for each program. Procedure takes place once a year, usually in Fall or in Winter (see individual program`s descriptions) for stays in a following academic year. Applicants must provide the Commission with required documents before the deadline.
The Fulbright Program is open to all fields be it Liberal Arts or Hard Sciences (except for MBA and Clinical Medicine). Proposals in American Studies are welcome as well as proposals studying intercultural or interdisciplinary aspects. Academic qualities of proposals are decisive for obtaining the award.
In all programs a preference is given (if otherwise comparable quality) to applicants who have not had opportunity to stay in the U.S. for longer period (semester, academic year etc.) during their university studies or professional life.
Complete information about all following programs in Czech language is available here.
The Fulbright Scholarship for Graduate Studies in the U.S.
Pre-doctoral one-year fellowships for Czech students are offered for studies at U.S. universities. The scholarship is highly competitive; successful applicants are required to have an outstanding university record and submit high-quality, inventive projects. Students can enter a Master's or Ph.D. program or may enter a non-degree program at U.S. universities (TOEFL and/or GRE tests are requested by the deadline for the majority of fields in case of M.A. and Ph.D. programs). They can also come as visiting research students on an invitation of a U.S. scholar to pursue their own research project. Students from all fields (with the exception of clinical medicine and MBA) are considered and encouraged to apply. Students without recent U.S. experience are given preference.
In the U.S., the scholarship is co-administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) located in New York.
The annual deadline for Czech applicants is September 1 for the next academic year. The applications are submitted electronically (with the exception of letters of reference and education documents).
The Fulbright Award for Research and Lecturing in the U.S.
Fulbright Awards for Research and Lecturing provide the opportunity for participants to conduct research or lecture in the U.S. The grantees are successful university teachers and scientists and hold a Ph.D. degree (or, in arts and biomedicine, have comparable professional experience). Applicants must have an invitation from the institution in the U.S. where they would like to work prior to applying for a grant. As with the student program, preference may be given to those applying in priority fields and without prior U.S. experience, provided the overall quality of submitted projects is comparable. The Commission also provides support for lecturers of Czech language and literature in U.S. universities.
The annual deadline for applying for the scholar award is October 1.
The Fulbright High School Teacher Exchange Program
The Fulbright High School Teacher Exchange Program provides opportunities for qualified educators from the Czech Republic and the U.S. to participate in direct exchanges of positions for a full school year. Successful applicants must have at least three years of teaching experience, an excellent knowledge of English, and an accreditation in the subject they would like to teach. Most frequently, English language is the subject taught by the American teachers in the Czech Republic because any other subject would usually require a bilingual (Czech, English) teaching at a Czech school. Usually, four Czech teachers and four U.S. teachers participate in the program each year.
Program participants have the opportunity to live and work in the cultures of their host countries, an experience which has benefits for the teachers, their schools, and their communities. This experience is both gratifying and challenging. Maturity, flexibility, adaptability, and inventiveness are necessary traits in successful Fulbright teachers.
The annual deadline for applying for this program is November 1.
The Fulbright High School Administrator Exchange Program
The Fulbright High School Administrator Exchange Program is a new program of the Czech Fulbright Commission. It started in 2003. It is designed for high school directors and deputy directors to visit their counterparts at a corresponding high school in the other country for six weeks. During their visit, the administrators "shadow" their hosts. They familiarize themselves with a host high school, its organization, administration, financing, and management, teaching methods, teaching materials, etc. They can visit individual classes, monitor the ways of teaching and get acquainted with approaches to students.
Successful candidates must have a good knowledge of English and a respectful work profile. They have to submit an interesting plan of activities for their potential counterparts. After selecting suitable candidates on each side, the Fulbright Commission and its U.S. cooperating agency look for the best possible matching. The exchange is not simultaneous so a host administrator could adequately give time to his guest.
The annual deadline for applying for this program is November 1.
The Fulbright-Masaryk Scholarship
The Fulbright-Masaryk scholarship has become a well-established and broadly acknowledged part of the Fulbright Program in the Czech Republic. Launched on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk´s birthday (March 6, 2000), the scholarship aims to build upon the significant legacy of this statesman. The Fulbright-Masaryk scholarship not only acknowledges the legacy of the first Czechoslovak President in the political sense, but also emphasizes his active public involvement that brought him from a career of a university professor to a full political career. At the same time, the scholarship honors Masaryk´s close relationship with the United States.
Successful applicants are acknowledged researchers and/or university teachers (both senior and junior, i.e. before they obtain their Ph.D. degree) who participate actively in academic and community life. As with the Fulbright Scholar Program, they have to establish contacts with their host institution in the U.S. prior to applying for a grant.
In the academic years 2000/2001 - 2002/2003, the program was fully funded by a grant of the Czech Ministry of Education provided within the framework of the program KONTAKT. In 2003, the Fulbright Commission succeeded in receiving a new grant within the same program to continue the Fulbright-Masaryk Scholarship for five more consecutive years.
In 2007/2008, thanks to the grant of the U.S. Embassy in Prague, Fulbright-Masaryk Scholarship was opened in a new category inviting non-profit leaders to seek a reasearch experience combined with an internship in an American NGO. The description of the program is available here.
The annual deadline for applying for this program is December 1.
The Proshek-Fulbright Scholarship
The Proshek-Fulbright Scholarship facilitates grantees the participation in research, observation, and teaching at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. The Scholarship was established by the estate of Mrs. Gabriela Proshek to honor her late husband Dr. Charles E. Proshek, a distinguished physician in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a former Honorary Consul of Czechoslovakia. Each year, the fellowship supports a few scholars for a visit of three to ten months.
The annual deadline for applying for this program is February 1.
Study of the United States Institutes
Study of the United States Institutes are six-week academic programs for multinational groups of university faculty from abroad held at university campuses throughout the United States. Grants are awarded to those whose teaching and scholarly research embraces some aspects of U.S. life and institutions (e.g., American Literature, the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Political System, U.S. Foreign Policy). Each institute includes an intensive academic seminar and an integrated study tour. The U.S. government funds the institutes. The ultimate purpose of FASI is to strengthen curricula and improve teaching about the United States in educational institutions abroad.
Summer Instititutes usually have deadline on February 1. Winter Institutes usually have deadlines in first half of October.
Travel Grants
Czech citizens who wish to study or conduct research in the U.S. for a period longer than three months and whose stay in the U.S. is covered by another source of funding based on competition may apply for travel grants. As in all other programs, the grants are awarded competitively, and the academic credentials of an applicant are crucial.
The annual deadline for applying for this program is June 1. Each year, travel grants are announced contingent upon the availability of funding.
The Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program
The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program brings accomplished professionals at a midpoint in their careers for a ten-month study at a U.S. university and to engage in other related professional experiences. Fellowships are granted competitively in the following fields: natural resources and environmental management, public policy analysis and public administration, economic development, agricultural development/agricultural economics, finance and banking, human resource management, urban and regional planning, public health policy and management, technology policy and management, educational planning, communication/journalism, drug abuse education, prevention and treatment. Successful applicants must demonstrate a potential for professional development and leadership skills. Currently, 13 major U.S. universities participate in the program; grantees are placed there according to their field of professional interest.
The annual deadline for applying for this program is July 1, the final selection of nominated grantees from individual countries is done in the U.S.
The Scholar-in-Residence Program
The Scholar-in Residence Program, which brings scholars and professionals from other countries to U.S. colleges and universities, is aimed at helping to initiate or broaden international programs or curricula at institutions that rarely have the opportunity to host visiting scholars. Thus the program expands the contact of American students and faculty with people of other cultures. The primary activity is lecturing. Under this program, interested U.S. institutions submit proposals to CIES to invite scholars for one or both terms of the academic year.
