The Project Statement is the central element of a Fulbright application and is required for all activities: teaching, research, teaching/research, and professional projects. Here, in only five pages, applicants bring together their backgrounds, particular interests, teaching and research philosophies, relevant experience, adaptability, planned activities and anticipated outcomes in a coherent, well-written statement addressed to reviewers in the U.S. and abroad. Statements must address the following questions: what you propose to do, how you propose to do it, why this project is important, and what the potential benefits are of the project and this experience.
Below, we provide you with some excerpts of successful applications to show you how some of these questions have been addressed. These are examples provided solely for the purpose of guiding applicants; copying any part of these samples is not permitted.
There is no template for a “successful” Project Statement. The statement should be clearly presented, concisely written, and uniquely yours, reflecting the project you are proposing. Regarding formatting, you may use paragraphs, paragraph headers, lists (including numbered and bulleted lists), timelines, graphs, tables, and other graphics as appropriate to address the guidance outlined below.
Program Guidance for Project Statement
The project statement is your opportunity to explain your proposed project and specific strengths as an applicant to reviewers and potential hosts․ It must be clear and compelling to audiences both inside and outside your discipline․ It should be well-organized and developed, and realistic in scope.
Format: 3-5 pages, single-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins
The Project Statement should include, but is not limited to, discussion of the following points:
While the examples below incorporate lists, this format is not required. These applicants outlined their objectives clearly and went on to explain their plans further in their statement.
The project’s research questions – as described by the Department - are:
Brooten: Promoting “people-centred” and socially responsible media the six-month period of research proposed here would make possible the completion of a book manuscript of more than ten years of research on the efforts of local media reform and development organizations in Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines as they have struggled to diversify and democratize the media landscape.
Objectives
The proposed methodology includes the following overlapping phases.
These examples demonstrate different ways of conveying clearly described plans.
I would use my time in Scotland to initiate a new research project using a similar methodology. First, I would work with my local hosts to identify a local nature reserve and public park that would warrant exhaustive exploration … I would work with members of the Sound Emporium Research Group to identify specific locations within these parks where regular audio recording should occur, then develop goals for how often we should visit these locations for sampling. The resulting materials would be assembled into a fully-searchable digital repository that helps document the local soundscape. Both the capture and organization of these audio field recordings could involve members of the academic program. The resulting materials would be assembled into a fully-searchable digital repository that helps document the local soundscape. Both the capture and organization of these audio field recordings could involve members of the academic program. The sound recordings could then be used by anyone for scientific study of environmental changes on the local soundscape or artistic projects that respond these unique locations)
Examples: Why the Project is Important
Brooten: This research is in many ways more vital now, as all three countries have become increasingly militarized, and their media systems far more complex given the meteoric rise in social media and its unexpected negative consequences. Regional reform efforts vary from modifying existing commercial systems to developing more community-focused media outlets to provide for a wider diversity of voices. Media reformers are facing the fallout from these trends, including shifting public attitudes towards journalism, verbal and physical attacks on journalists, increased use of libel and outdated laws to silence dissent, an increase in misinformation and harassment on social media that is further polarizing their societies, and increasing concerns over digital rights and security. This research will provide an invaluable time-line of the work of democratic media institutions in a period of rapid and contested political change in these countries and the region, and an overview of the impact of these local organizations and their developing networks. This is especially important as aid agencies are struggling to know how to best support independent media in the current geopolitical climate. The research will also elucidate tensions between the commercial, state and community media sectors in these countries, how these tensions constrain efforts at media reform, and what might be done to support indigenous efforts to develop better media.
Most coral reefs are found in developing nations where anthropogenic and socioeconomic pressures are strongest and government protections are weakest. These conditions can coalesce to threaten the livelihoods of disenfranchised populations that rely on reefs for economic and nutritional subsistence. The recent influx of capital for infrastructure development pouring into Colombia following the recent peace agreement epitomizes this unfortunate combination of circumstances. Rapid development is likely to have major impacts on Colombia’s marine ecosystems, but the speed at which regulatory decisions are being made leaves little time for appropriate environmental impact studies or for directly affected groups to participate in planning and decision-making.
Examples: What Benefits the Project Will Produce
I teach media studies, including the impact of global trends such as media ownership consolidation and conglomeration, privatization and technical convergence, with a focus on their impact on local cultures worldwide. The Mekong Studies Centre at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok has invited me to conduct this project in collaboration with them as my host institution in Thailand. I have received a similar invitation from the College of Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines Diliman, which will further our ongoing relationship, including my role as an international editorial board member of the College’s journal, Plaridel. In Myanmar, I have been invited to collaborate with the recently-established Yangon-based Inya Institute, a member of the CAORC working to advance the social sciences, arts and humanities in and related to Myanmar. I have recently been invited by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) to lead a group of 10-12 community college teachers to Myanmar in June 2020.
The successful execution of this project will benefit: 1. My host institution, by developing an environmental policy model for assessing the costs and benefits of taxing meat under imperfect competition; 2.My discipline in terms of customizing environmental policy modelling to account for the idiosyncrasies of the livestock sector; 3. My institution, the University of Nebraska, by development in-house expertise on the subject of meat taxes - particularly given the State of Nebraska is a leading producer of cattle in the U.S. - as well as by developing stronger relationships between the University of Nebraska and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; and 4. Me, academically, by providing me with fresh know-how and interdisciplinary experience I can use to develop a new graduate course in environmental policy and market structure to contribute to research on the subject; and by creating a pathway for further collaboration with Swedish colleagues beyond the duration of the Fulbright engagement.