Scholarships or fellowships are such a boon to students or researchers wanting to pursue higher studies or research. These enable students with excellent academic skills or early or late researchers with fine skills in research to further their excellence. Another advantage of providing scholarships or fellowships between two countries is strengthening the bond between those nations. 

Students or study partnerships between two countries can do what diplomats of the highest rank can't, that is strengthen the bond between two nations by showing the cultural and welcoming side of their country. That is the reason nations are keen on providing scholarships to international students.

Fulbright scholarships for international students:

The Fulbright Program is an American scholarship program of competitive, merit-based grants for International educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. The Fulbright Program is governed by the cooperating organization Institute of International Education.

The Fulbright Program constitutes of so many programs related to students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists. Fulbright U.S. Student Program is one of the programs relating to students. The Fulbright Student Program provides research, study and teaching opportunities to recent graduates and graduate students.

There is a range of scholarships for International students from about 160 countries, but this particular article is going to talk about the scholarships for Indian students. Fulbright provides a number of fellowships for Indian students to conduct in-depth research in a particular subject of their expertise. Below are a few fellowships provided by Fulbright for Indian students.

1. Fulbright-Kalam climate fellowships:

As the name indicates these scholarships are provided by the USIEF to monitor climate changes in the two partner countries of India and the USA. These fellowships are provided to students in the field of climate change like Geology, earth science, and many more. Refer to the website for detailed information.

Benefits:

The scholarship provides:

  • J-1 visa support, a monthly stipend, accident, and sickness program.
  • Economy class roundtrip for travel between India and the US.
  • Professional allowance and settling in allowance.
  • Also, opportunities for certain doctoral students to audit non-degree courses, conduct research, and gain practical work experience.
  • May also fund the travel of one accompanying eligible dependent.

These fellowships are provided for,

1. Doctoral students: These fellowships are provided to Indian doctoral students studying Ph.D. at an Indian institution. The duration of the fellowship is between 6 to 9 months.

Eligibility:

  • Applicants should be registered in PhD. and should have done adequate research in relevant fields. Also, on the application form, you will need a recommendation from a Ph.d. supervisor commenting on the need for a fellowship.
  • If the applicant is employed, then he/she needs to follow the employer's endorsement carefully.
  • The applicant must upload a copy of the original published/presented paper from master's/Mphil.

2. Postdoctoral Research: These fellowships are for the college faculty members or for the people who are early researchers in India. These fellowships are provided for 8 to 24 months to early researchers by providing the finest resources to conduct their research.

Eligibility:

  • The applicant must have a Ph.D. or a D.M. completed in between 2018 and 2022. 
  • The applicants must have been published in reputed journals with superior academic and professional achievement.
  • If an applicant is employed, must follow the employer's endorsement carefully.

3. Academic professional excellence: The fellowships for excellence are aimed at faculty, researchers, and professionals. This will provide an opportunity for the students to research or teach at an institution in the USA. These are for 4 to 9 months.

Eligibility:

  • Should have a Ph.D. degree with at least 5 years of experience in teaching/research/professional experience.
  • Professionals aside from academics must have a master's degree and at least 5 years of relevant experience.
  • Should upload a recent publication in the online application.
  • If the applicant is employed must follow the employer's endorsement carefully. 

To apply for the Kalam climate fellowships, visit the official website.

Deadline: The deadline to apply for the scholarship is 15th September 2022.

Tips to get through the application for the fellowship:

A few tips from previous Fulbright fellowship winners to get through the process of application.

Tips to get through Fulbright application process

1. Start the process early: Start the process way before the deadline so as to gather all the information and prepare accordingly.

2. Read the instructions for the application: Read the instructions in the application carefully so as to understand the requirement of the fellowship carefully.

3. Revise the application before submitting: Sometimes a minor error can cost you heavily. No matter how confident you are about the application, at least read it once to confirm that you have provided the details correctly.

4. Use simple language that is clear: Do not use fancy words just for the sake of it. The evaluators are looking for good candidates, not exactly Sashi Tharoor though. So they won't check your range of vocabulary, hence you do not need to use fancy words to attract them. Use simple language which can be easily understood by the evaluators.

5. Identify the best possible referees: Do not nominate multiple referees from the same institution. Select referees from different institutions, who you know can write excellent recommendations.

6. Take time in selecting the host institution: Try to select a host institution that you think will definitely further your education or research in the desired field.

Meanwhile, check out an interesting article by Akmal, sharing his experiences about the Fulbright scholarship interview process from Uzbekistan "How I failed my Fulbright Scholarship interview"

Scholarships or fellowships are a great way to reward academically excellent students or help the ones deprived of finances in pursuing quality higher education. The government has identified the need for scholarships to strengthen the ties between countries and hence has been providing many of them to students. You can select the best-fit scholarship for you.

In cases where you are unable to get through any of the scholarships but are keen to pursue higher education, you can opt for an education loan. Yes, education loans directly through banks are a big headache, so we advise you to go through WeMakeScholars, the #1 portal that provides the best guidance for an education loan and also connects you with suitable public or private lenders. All you need to do to avail of our guidance is request a callback and our financial officer will get back to you in no time.