The Fulbright Specialist Program provides short-term Fulbright grants abroad lasting between 2 and 6 weeks. Central to this program is the original Fulbright purpose of advancing mutual understanding, establishing long-term cooperation, and creating opportunities for institutional linkages.
The Fulbright Specialist Program (FSP) provides highly qualified U.S. academics and U.S. professionals an opportunity to share their expertise by carrying out projects created by host institutions abroad and driven by the needs of the host country and host institution, in the context of Post priorities. Specialists are frequently academics; however, professionals such as attorneys, journalists, scientists, economists, security experts, and experts in other eligible fields (such as business, communications, public health, and public administration) often take part in the program as well. Specialists exchange knowledge, build capacity, and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities both in the United States and overseas. The FSP promotes long-term collaboration between U.S. and host country institutions through projects that align with U.S. Department of State goals and the priorities of foreign host institutions. This Fulbright opportunity offers an on-demand, short-term exchange resource in a wide variety of fields that responds directly to the needs of host institution and host countries.
Through FSP project proposals, hosts can invite U.S. academics and professionals to apply their knowledge and expertise to activities designed by a host university, local nonprofit, government ministry, or other eligible host institution. Project activities may include but are not limited to: teaching or training; developing curricula or teaching/educational materials; institutional planning; building capacity of faculty, administrators, or staff; delivering seminars or academic courses; and conducting needs assessments for programs or institutions.
Stories of successful projects can be found on the Fulbright Specialist Program website here: Making an Impact — Fulbright Specialist Program (worldlearning.org).
Duration: The length of a Fulbright Specialist project must be a minimum of 14 days and a maximum of 42 days, including travel days and weekends. Fulbright Specialist projects must be carried out in-person (not virtually), with no exceptions.
Eligibility, Fields, and Activities
Eligible Disciplines
Projects designed by prospective host institutions should focus on one of the below eligible disciplines:
- Agriculture
- American (U.S.) Studies
- Anthropology
- Archeology
- Biology Education
- Business Administration
- Chemistry Education
- Communications and Journalism
- Computer Science and Information Technology
- Economics
- Education
- Engineering Education
- Environmental Science
- Law
- Library Science
- Math Education
- Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies
- Physics Education
- Political Science
- Public Administration
- Public/Global Health
- Social Work
- Sociology
- Urban Planning
New for this call: While projects will be reviewed in any of the 24 eligible disciplines, we are soliciting projects in the following priority areas: Climate Change; Cyber Security and IT; Disaster Response; DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility); Entrepreneurship; Media Literacy/Countering Disinformation; Public Administration; Public/Global Health (including Mental Health); and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
Eligible Host Institutions: Foreign host institutions eligible to request Fulbright Specialists include, but are not limited to: reputable academic institutions (universities, colleges, research institutions, vocational/technical educational institutions); government institutions (ministries); cultural institutions (museums, libraries, conservatories, theatres); non-governmental organizations (NGOs, think tanks), and public health-related institutions (public health organizations, teaching hospitals).
Ineligible Institutions, Fields, and Activities: U.S. or U.S.-based institutions and profit-making companies and organizations such as businesses and corporations are ineligible to host Fulbright Specialists. Projects with activities focused on English language such as designing curriculum, conducting needs assessments, teacher training, or high-level educational consultations, are not eligible for the FSP.
Specialists may not carry out personal research projects—they must carry out projects conceptualized and proposed by host institutions. Clinical medical research or projects involving patient contact are ineligible under Fulbright policy.
Fulbright Specialist Program Activities
The Fulbright Specialist Program encourages host institutions to tailor projects to their own needs. However, all projects should have an education or training focus. Due to the short-term nature of the exchange, projects should have concrete objectives that can be achieved over the course of the Specialist’s visit. Past Specialists have supported host institutions by conducting activities such as:
- Delivering a seminar or workshop
- Consulting on faculty or workforce development
- Developing academic or training curricula and materials
- Lecturing at the graduate or undergraduate level
- Conducting needs assessments or evaluations for a program or institution
Financial Arrangements
The Fulbright Program in Croatia is a joint program of the U.S. Department of State and the Government of Croatia. It is co-funded by the United States and Croatia within the framework of the Bilateral Cooperation. The Fulbright Program in Croatia is administered by the U.S. Embassy in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Education and the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes.
The U.S. Government will cover international travel and daily honorarium. Host institutions must provide cost share for in-country meals, lodging, and local transportation expenses (to and from lodging to the location of the project as well as additional local transportation to conduct personal errands and attend or participate in local cultural activities). These funds must be provided in-kind or upon arrival, not on a reimbursable basis. All costs, including costs covered by host institutions and in-kind contributions, must be quantified, and reported in the program management system prior to approval of the project. Specialists are prohibited from self-funding programmatic costs.
The Croatian Government can reimburse this cost to the host institutions if they need financial assistance The Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes can reimburse hosts for in-country meals and lodging for the Specialists: up to 55.00 EUR (414.397 HRK) per day (maximum daily amount) for lodging and 26.55 EUR (200.00 HRK) per day for meals (fixed amount of the non-taxable daily allowance to be paid in total by the host institution to the Specialist). To receive the reimbursement, the Croatian institutions should send to the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes by e-mail a written request on the letterhead of the host institution and signed by the legal representative of the institution. The request should be accompanied by supporting documents such as invoices and other documents proving that the host institution has paid for the accommodation to the accommodation provider (hotel, Airbnb etc.) and paid the total amount of the daily allowances to the Specialist. To prepare the written request the host institutions should use the template provided by the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes. All the amounts mentioned in this Call are calculated according to the fixed conversion rate of HRK to EUR established at 1.00 EUR = 7.53450 HRK.
Please for reimbursement of the cost, contact the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes at bilaterala@ampeu.hr.
Regulating the stay of Fulbright Specialist in Croatia
Host-institution’s obligation: If the project is approved, the Croatian host institution should obtain a Work Registration Certificate on behalf of the Specialist before their arrival to Croatia. Host institutions are encouraged to submit an application for the Work Registration Certificate to the local Police Directorate 1 month before the arrival of the Specialist. Please find more information on how to obtain the Work Registration Certificate for the Specialist at the local Police Directorate here: Ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova Republike Hrvatske – Work of third-country nationals (gov.hr)
How/When to Apply
Applications will be accepted till March 1, 2024. Approved applications will be submitted to Washington for final approval. Projects can begin no earlier than October 1, 2024, and must be completed by September 30, 2025. Applications must be submitted by Croatian institutions.
The host institution must submit the application via the online project portal. In order to apply as host institution, please register as a new user and fill in the online application world-learning-npsp.my.site.com/FSPHost/WL_SiteLogin?startURL=%2FFSPHost%2F.
The awarded projects must be implemented during the academic year for which the project was approved. Additionally, the host institutions should inform the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb and the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes about any changes to the mobility period of the Specialist.
For additional information please:
Visit the Fulbright Specialist website for a general program overview and highlights: https://fulbrightspecialist.worldlearning.org/
Contact our implementing partner World Learning at Fulbrightspecialist@worldlearning.org for assistance with the project portal and application procedures, or for program materials.
Fulbright Specialist Portal: https://worldlearning-community.force.com/FSPHost/
For additional information please contact:
U.S. Embassy in Zagreb
Public Diplomacy Section
Fulbright Program
e-mail: fulbrightcroatia@state.gov