Exchange isn't a Year in your Life, it is a Life in a Year
Fulbright’s diverse and dynamic network of scholars, alumni and global partners fosters mutual understanding between the United States and partner nations, shares knowledge across communities, and improves lives around the world. One connection at a time, Fulbright brings people closer together and moves nations closer to a more peaceful world.
Your Fulbright grant to the U.S. is much more than a scholarship: it offers grantees the opportunity to have a transformative cultural and academic experience and provides support before you depart to the U.S. and during your time in the U.S.. Receiving a Fulbright grant opens many doors and provides professional, educational, and general networking opportunities both on a local and on a global level.
Fulbright Greece is involved in a number of exciting activities aimed at advancing the interests of the Foundation and all its programs through the organization of and/or participation in public lectures, training sessions and workshops, and other outreach events. Fulbright Greece encourages all of its grantees to stay in touch and stay involved.
Here are some important components of a Fulbright Year:
Before your Departure
Following your selection and the approval of your nomination, the Fulbright Greek Program Coordinator will contact you on the necessary steps to complete before your travel to the United States. You will be invited to create an account on the Fulbright Greece Portal as it will assist in navigating through relevant information, instructions and documents on matters pertaining to your travel and stay in the U.S.. Areas addressed concern your grant documents/grant benefits, health records, process for obtaining a U.S. visa, airfare, settling-in, orientation sessions and other matters for a smooth transition to your host country. The Greek Program Coordinator will also discuss your grant travel dates/arrangements with you and approve the travel cost in advance.
Orientation Programs/Activities During the Academic Year
Every June, Greek Fulbright Grantees come together online and at the Fulbright office for Pre-Departure Orientation sessions per program category, aimed at providing practical information as they prepare for their time as a student, artist, researcher, lecturer, or teacher in the U.S. This event preludes a formal reception - the Annual Awards Ceremony – at the U.S. Ambassador's residence. During the PDO presentations, Fulbright and U.S. Embassy staff members explain the "basics" (from theory to practice) of grant administration, visa interviews, U.S. point of entry procedures, arrival procedures, cultural adjustment, and mandatory Fulbright reports. Current U.S. Fulbright Grantees and Greek Fulbright Alumni are invited to give personal advice and speak about the highlights of their Fulbright experiences including Gateway Orientations and Enrichment Seminars. Grantees can participate freely during the Q&A at the end of the sessions.
Support on the Ground
Once you arrive in the U.S., you will be assigned an Institute of International Education - IIE Advisor. Your IIE Advisor will be your first point of contact during your Fulbright grant period and assist you in getting settled, accessing enrichment activities, extending your visa (if necessary), answering tax questions and exploring internships or work experience opportunities. Fulbright Greece will also be supporting you throughout your grant period.
Emergency Action Plan for Greek Grantees
While you are in the United States, IIE is your main contact. The IIE’s advising team will reach out to students and scholars who may be impacted by an emergency to ensure the safety of each participant. The list of participants is then shared with colleagues in the Client Engagement teams. An update is also shared with ECA and with Fulbright Greece. The advising team continues to follow-up with participants, providing any updates and status changes to the Client Engagement team, ECA and the Foundation. A plan of action is developed between these entities if and when the need arises. Consult your online grant guides for the emergency plan.
Engaging with the Fulbright Community
Identifying fellow Fulbrighters on your campus is a good start to make new contacts. You can register to the Fulbrighter Network and reach out to Fulbright Alumni in your area or to those who attended the same U.S. institution as you will, you can research fellow international Fulbrighters and their current affiliations, and you can post messages and events. The U.S. is home to an active Fulbright Association with Chapters in many different parts of the country. You can review their program to participate in on of their events.
Reports
The Foundation will get in contact with the Graduate Students during the month of January and again during the month of June regarding your interim and final grant reports respectively. The interim report will ask you to give us a short update on your progress for which you will receive a template with questions, whereas the final grant report inquires about your immediate plans and includes a call to share your Fulbright experience with the Foundation and possibly future candidates through a brief text with reflections on your first academic year. Visiting Research Students, Visiting Scholars, Artists and Special Program participants such as SUSI and Salzburg participants will be asked to visit the office for a debriefing session within a month of completion of their respective programs and to submit a final grant report. Since reports are also required by IIE and by I.K.Y. (Ph.D. students), Fulbright suggests a brief personal account with images - a testimonial (see Documenting your Fulbright Grant experience). In addition, Visiting Research Students are required to submit a completion/evaluation report from the U.S. host department/host. Donor appreciation letters will be assigned on an individual basis. All reports/letters are kept in the Foundation's archive for future reference and may be drawn from for website postings.
Following your grant, the Institute of International Education (IIE) may invite you to participate in the Fulbright Alumni Impact Survey. The purpose of the Fulbright Alumni Impact Survey is to enable post-grant, cross-programmatic comparisons and offer an in-depth, holistic overview of the Fulbright Program experience from the vantage point of alumni who are one-year out from completing their program. IIE strongly encourages you to participate in the survey since results help it illustrate the Fulbright Program’s mission and value to program partners and with diverse audiences.
Documenting your Fulbright Grant Experience
Fulbright Greece encourages all grantees to submit or collect stories, video clips and photographs to document their stay and to share their experience with current and future candidates. We will channel these efforts, called Grantees Speak and Alumni Speak, into a comprehensive overview of past and current impressions. The Foundation will take it for granted that any documentation, including quotes, can be used for public dissemination to promote the Fulbright programs and objectives (website, social media¸ videos) unless otherwise stated. Please visit the Fulbright website for updates, sign up for the Newsletter, like our Facebook page, and follow us on X, YouTube and LinkedIn. Whether you are a student, a researcher, an artist, or a teacher, whether you stay for 5 weeks, 5 months or 5 years, we would very much like to hear from you!
After Completion of your Fulbright Grant
Your Fulbright experience doesn’t have to end just because you returned home. There are many ways to stay involved and engaged with Fulbright Greece following the completion of your grant.
Once you conclude your Fulbright grant it is important you stay in touch with the Fulbright Foundation so we can update your file, and assist you in networking. We encourage you to maintain contact with the Fulbright Foundation in Greece in the years to come and look forward to seeing you at our alumni events both in Greece and in the United States. We will regularly keep you informed of the Foundation's activities and request your support and participation at events such as recruiting, screening and orienting future students and researchers. We also look forward to receiving your news for the Foundation's newsletter and website – alumni highlights on your academic and professional development. And don't forget, there are many different ways to get involved!
Fulbright Year Calendar
Listed below are important dates for all Greek Scholarship Programs:
Mid-May
Finalization all of program nominations in accordance with the Fulbright budget
June
Pre-departure orientation sessions in conjunction with the Annual Award Ceremony and/or U.S. Embassy visa appointments
Throughout the academic year
Depending on the departure date: submission of required documents for the DS-2019 Form issuance and U.S. Embassy visa appointment
May/June
Departure of the Study in the United States Institutes Secondary School Educators
July/August
Pre-Academic Programs and Gateway Orientations online and in the U.S. for Fulbright Graduate Students
August
Departure of the Fulbright Distinguished Teachers
August/September (varies)
Official start of the U.S. academic year / Departure of the Fulbright Graduate Students
September-March (varies)
Departures of the Fulbright Visiting Scholars, Visiting Research Students and Artists
Throughout the academic year
Enrichment Seminars for Fulbright Scholars, Students and Artists in the U.S. (IIE)
Throughout the academic year
Outreach Lecturing Opportunities for Fulbright Visiting Scholars in the U.S. (IIE/CIES)
January
Interim Reports due for Fulbright Graduate Students. Request for appreciation letters addressed to donors.
Throughout the academic year
Final Reports due for all grantees within 30 days of their return to Greece. Appreciation letters requested on an individual basis.
Throughout the academic year
Debriefing sessions for all grantees within 30 days of their return to Greece
May (varies)
Official end of the U.S. academic year. Final reports Graduate Students.
