The award conditions are:
- Your award must be approved by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board in Washington, DC;
- Your award is conditional on acceptance into an approved institution and course of study or research;
- The period of your award is one academic year (usually ten months, not to exceed 12 months). Grantees may, on an exceptional basis, receive an award for a shorter period of not less than six months;
- Your award must be taken up in the New Zealand academic year (February-November) following official confirmation of the award;
- You will be required to undertake a full medical examination before applying for your visa;
- You must travel on a US passport, and New Zealand immigration documentation must be completed from within the US;
- International travel will only be funded between the US and New Zealand, and must be on either an American or New Zealand carrier;
- You must participate fully in an arrival orientation, a mid-year report-back event and an end-of-year report-back event;
- You may be required to fulfil some Fulbright New Zealand media requirements before your departure for the New Zealand, during your study and/or on return to the US;
- You must provide Fulbright New Zealand with copies of any articles, research papers or theses resulting from your award. A final report must also be completed before you depart from New Zealand.
Fulbright orientation
It was Senator J William Fulbright’s mission to build peace through the mutual understanding of cultures. Fulbright applicants and grantees are expected to understand and support this mission and be effective ambassadors for the United States of America.
In addition to the monetary, educational and cultural exchange benefits made possible by the award, Fulbright grantees carry the prestige of the Fulbright programme along with them throughout their careers. Alumni are expected to succeed and be ‘thought leaders’ in their respective fields/careers, and to support and remain engaged with the Fulbright programme for the rest of their lives.
To support their understanding of the Fulbright mission, American grantees are required to attend a Fulbright orientation programme held each February in Wellington.