Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowships (All Disciplines)

Candidates must be hosted by an accredited Israeli institution of higher education. For the complete list of such institutions, click here.

Eligibility requirements apply at the time of application. For full details on all Fulbright U.S. Scholar program eligibility requirements, please click here. In addition:

• To be eligible for a Fulbright fellowship, candidates must have received their Ph.D. degrees no earlier than July 2020 in order to remain eligible as a postdoctoral researcher for the duration of the Fellowship. Additionally, applicants must receive their Ph.D. before they leave to Israel to begin their postdoctoral research.

Additional Information

In addition to being a prestigious academic exchange program, the Fulbright Program is designed to expand and strengthen relationships between the people of the United States and citizens of other nations and to promote international understanding and cooperation. To support this mission, Fulbright Scholars will be asked to give public talks, mentor students, and otherwise engage with the host community, in addition to their primary activities.

• The host institution must provide grantees with Postdoctoral status including access to campus resources (proof of such letter is not required at the time of application).
• Each candidate is responsible for arranging their institutional affiliations in Israel independently, including the development of the program of work for the proposed visit through contacts with possible host institutions.

Applicants and their grants must meet all of the following requirements at the time of application unless specific exemptions apply:

• U.S. citizenship (permanent residence is not sufficient).
• Sound physical and mental health: selected candidates are required to submit a Medical History and Examination Report before their grants can be finalized.
• Grants shall not authorize engagement in pastoral, missionary, or other professional religious activities.
• Grants shall not authorize engagement in activities for which a license to practice medicine or nursing is required.
• Applicants are required to disclose any prior convictions of a felony or a misdemeanor, including Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), but excluding minor traffic violations. FFSB regulations can be found here (Chapter 600/Section 626 Ineligibility Factors).

The following individuals are ineligible:

• Recent college graduates with limited professional experience are ineligible for consideration under the Fulbright Scholar Program. Instead, such applicants can visit the Fulbright Student Program.
• Graduate or doctoral students seeking funding to complete their degrees are ineligible for consideration under the Fulbright Scholar Program. Instead, such applicants can visit the Fulbright Student Program.
• Candidates who have resided abroad for five or more consecutive years in the six-year period preceding the date of application are ineligible. In this case, a period of nine months or more during a calendar year is considered to constitute a full year abroad.
• Employees and their immediate families (i.e. spouses and dependent children) of the U.S. Department of State and of public or private organizations under contract to the U.S. Department of State are ineligible to apply for a Fulbright grant until one year after termination of such employment.

Note: Recipients of a Fulbright Scholar grant are eligible to apply for another Fulbright Scholar grant two years after the date of completion of the previous grant. (For serial or Flex grants, the two-year period begins at the end of the final grant in the series.)

For full details on the Fulbright Post-Doctoral Scholar Program review process, visit CIES. During its review of the recommended pool of applications, Fulbright Israel applies the following criteria:

• Academic excellence is the primary criterion for the evaluation of candidates.
• In addition to describing the research planned, a post-doctoral project proposal should also provide a concise description of the broader cultural goals of a post-doctoral experience in Israel: what the candidate would like to learn about Israel, what activities, in addition to research, do they expect to become involved in, and how the candidate expects to share their Israeli experiences upon return to the US.
• Leadership qualities are an important evaluation criterion.
• Preference will be given to candidates who have not had substantial, recent professional experience in Israel.

Applicants might be invited for a Zoom interview with a Fulbright commission. 

The Foundation reserves the exclusive right to determine, within the framework of applicable law and regulations, the qualitative standards for the evaluation of applications forwarded to it by the responsible agency in the United States. The Foundation is not under any obligation to provide the reasons for its decisions regarding the allocation of Fellowships.

Please note: Candidates who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States will be given preference, provided their qualifications are approximately equivalent to those of other candidates.

INVITATION REQUIREMENT 

A letter of invitation is required.

INVITATION REQUIREMENT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

A letter of invitation from an accredited Israeli institution of higher education is required. Each candidate should be responsible for the arrangement of his/her institutional affiliations in Israel independently, including development of the work program for the proposed visit through contacts with possible host institutions. Please contact the Fulbright program in Israel at [email protected] for assistance with identifying suitable host institutions or institutional contacts.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY REQUIREMENTS 

None, English is sufficient.

Applicants might be invited for a Zoom interview with a Fulbright commission.