75th anniversary of the Fulbright Program, the success of a PhD student from our Doctoral Study, and the current call for applications

In 2021, the Fulbright Program celebrates its 75th anniversary. In Poland, the Program has been operating since 1959, and the group of alumni already numbers over three thousand people. The community of "Fulbrighters" grows every year, and its ranks are joined by new eminent scientists, lecturers, representatives of the business world and the government sector, as well as non-governmental organizations, media or culture, and the arts. The Fulbright Program shows how great the power to change lies in academia. A real "Fulbrighter" is not only an active student or scientist but above all a person characterized by openness, creativity, and the potential to initiate social changes and conduct a cross-political, intercultural dialogue.

In the last edition of the Fulbright Junior Research Award 2021-2022, 29 applicants took part. As a result of the competition procedure including the substantive evaluation of the project, prepared by 3 independent experts, and an interview with the candidates whose applications received the highest marks, the Council of the Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission nominated 10 candidates for the scholarship. We are extremely pleased that among the winners of the competition is Aleksandra Splitt, a PhD student at the Institute of Nature Conservation of the Polish Academy of Sciences, studying at our Doctoral Study, whose supervisor is Dr. Piotr Skórka (INC PAS).

As part of the Fulbright scholarship, in 2022, Aleksandra will complete a 4-month internship at the Department of Entomology, UC Davis, where she will implement a project under the working title: "Cross-continent study on pollinating solitary bees along the urbanization gradient", matching the subject of research undertaken as part of the doctoral dissertation.

The Fulbright Junior Research Award 2022–2023 is now open. The call for applications for the Program will last until May 28, 2021. We encourage you to submit them! All necessary information can be found on the competition website. It is also worth getting interested in webinars prepared for potential candidates by members of the Fulbright Commission and alumni (details available on the Fulbright Program website). The laureate, Aleksandra Splitt, will be happy to provide guidance to her colleagues from doctoral studies (contact via the office of the Doctoral Study).

Osmia bicornis – a research subject.
Photo: A. Splitt.