Establishing a Contact Abroad

(Primarily for Fulbright, Arnold and Zucconi )

Having a contact abroad demonstrates to selection committees that you have already begun to put things in place to assure that you will have a productive fellowship experience. It shows that there is support for your project in the country and inspires confidence in you as a candidate.

Once you have researched the appropriate schools, organizations, scholars, and programs in the country, write to the people with whom you want to work and describe your proposed plan of study; ask for their opinion and potential support. Your letter should include basic information about you,including your year and concentration at Brown, the award(s) for which you plan to apply, and the project you hope to pursue. Explain why you chose to write to them, what about their program interests you, etc.  And be Brief!

The nature of the support from a scholar at an organization or institution abroad can range from casual assistance--such as inviting you to a few events, introducing you to others with relevant interests, and helping you access libraries-- to more in-depth help such as providing you with lab space, supervising your field research, and reading your manuscript(s). 

After you’ve established a good contact, ask the person with if he or she would mind writing a letter of support for your application. You should mention that the letter of support only obligates them to serve as an informal advisor or point person for you. You would be an independent scholar fully funded by Fulbright or Brown. In such a letter, the writer would explain the program and/or her work,  briefly indicating that she is familiar with the basic outline of the proposed project and thinks it would be a good match with her interests and home institution. She would say that the institution or organization would welcome you and that it expects to benefit greatly from your presence if you receives the fellowship.

WEB RESOURCES

List by country of most universities around the world. May not be completely up to date.

www.mit.edu:8001/people/cdemello/geog.html

Many of Fulbright’s various programs have their own web sites.  See:

www.hongkong.usconsulate.gov/pas

www.fulbright.org.nz ( New Zealand )

ww.fulbright.es ( Spain )

www.usemb.org.zm ( Zambia )

To find educational sites by country and region of the world, rely on your favorite search engines.

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