Austria Archives - Fulbright Student Program Blog

Program Update: New U.S. Student Awards to Austria for Graduate Research in STEM

September 11, 2017

Kelvin Chan of Brooklyn, NY received his BA in Biology from the University of Virginia, VA. In 2013-2014, he studied neuronal migration disorders as a Fulbright U.S. Student at the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna.

The Fulbright Program is pleased to announce up to five new awards for U.S. students to Austria: the Fulbright-Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Awards for full-time research and/or study in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). These awards are generously funded by the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation, which works to support cooperation and the transfer of knowledge between Austrian and American universities and academics.

Applications are being accepted now through October 6, 2017. Ph.D. candidates in STEM disciplines and related fields are strongly encouraged to apply. Applications from highly qualified graduate students and recent undergraduates with strong project proposals in relevant fields will also be considered.

The Austrian Fulbright Commission is particularly excited because these are the first awards targeted specifically at students in STEM fields, an area in which Austria is particularly strong. With up to five grants, this new award will give an unprecedented number of U.S. students the opportunity to conduct fully-funded STEM-related research in Austria with the Fulbright Program.

For more information, please visit the Austria country summary for details. Good luck!

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FLTA

My time in MinneSNOWta

November 19, 2015

Martin Spendlhofer, 2013-2014, Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant from Austria visiting Hawaii

To give you insight into the Fulbright year I spent at St. John’s University in Minnesota (Oh ya, you betcha!), I would like to describe four things that I really enjoyed.

Every semester, there is something called the “24-hour Play Festival” at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University (CSB/SJU). A group of incredibly talented students get together to write, direct, rehearse and perform a total of eight plays in 24 hours. Last January, I wrote an eight-minute play and acted in it as well. Even though I had about an hour of sleep (and there was more blood in my caffeine than caffeine in my blood), I enjoyed every second of the experience and it was a total blast. Having taught in Austria before coming to the United States, I was able to gather some valuable experiences as well.

One of my German club related highlights last semester was Oktoberfest. We served authentic pretzels, danced the polka, and had a gummy bear guessing game. We put a lot of work and effort into it, and I think it paid off! For advertising, we had a great flash mob with traditional Austrian music at the Gorecki dining center, and we also handed out hot cider at the bus stop. All in all, I enjoyed working together with an ambitious team of German club officers.

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U.S. Fulbright

Promoting Peace over Breakfast: My Fulbright Year at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna

September 17, 2015

Elvia Valle, 2014-2015, Austria (second from right), at a conference at the United Nations in Vienna about social change with colleagues from from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna representing Austria, Romania, the United States and the United Kingdom.

In the fall of 2014, I began attending the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna in Austria as a Fulbright Study/Research grant recipient. During my time here, I had been participating in the Academy’s Diploma Program, taking classes in many diverse topics: political science and international relations, the structure and functioning of international organizations and the European Union, economic and international economic relations, international law, institutional European law, contemporary political history, and language training in French and German.

During the week, I woke up in the morning and headed downstairs for breakfast. Usually, there were already students representing several countries such as England, Serbia, Moldova, Ethiopia, and Kazakhstan, to name a few, in the dining hall discussing social phenomena, cultural stereotypes, or recent international developments. Often, we also have the privilege of sharing such conversations with visiting professors. One need only come to breakfast to realize the commonality that brings us all together—a true desire and passion for making this world a better place.

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