The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos is pleased to announce the annual call for applications for the Fulbright Foreign Student Program for the 2021/2022 academic year. The Fulbright Foreign Student Program is a research program funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in New York.
Deadline: Please note that the STRICT deadline for submitting online applications and all supplementary documents is Sunday, June 14, 2020.
Purpose: The FFSP program is designed primarily to strengthen African universities by giving grantees the opportunity to conduct doctoral research in the United States. It offers young and exceptionally promising faculty members in select Nigerian universities the opportunity to conduct doctoral research at U.S. academic or research institutions for a maximum of nine (9) months. This program is strictly for individuals who are currently doing their PHD program and would like the opportunity to carry out their DOCTORAL RESEARCH in the U.S.
Grant Benefit: The grant covers the grantee’s round-trip airfare to the U.S., a settling-in allowance, monthly stipend, housing allowance, books-and-supplies allowance, and computer allowance. The grant also covers basic university health insurance as a primary insurance coverage and the Fulbright ASPE health benefit as secondary coverage.
Note: The grant does not cover travel of dependents, hence grantees will not be allowed to travel with spouse and children to the United States.
Fields of Study: Competition is open for the following study fields: Science, engineering, technology, arts, journalism/public relations/media studies, agriculture/food science, economics, environmental science, international relations, political science, public administration/policy, public health, and tourism.
Note: The Fulbright Foreign Student Program is extremely competitive, particularly in the fields of journalism, communication, and business administration, sciences such as chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering related disciplines.
Eligibility Requirements: To be eligible for a grant:
Applicants must be citizens or nationals of Nigeria, or permanent residents holding a valid passport issued by the government of Nigeria.
Applicants must be DOCTORAL OR PHD students who have completed a significant amount of their doctoral program in Nigerian universities and have the endorsement of their home institution.
N.B MASTERS and First-Degree applicants are NOT qualified to apply for this program.
Applicants must have an outstanding academic record and high level of English proficiency. Applicants must meet the minimum score on required standardized tests (TOEFL: a score of 90)
Applicants must have high motivation and a serious commitment to completing the program as scheduled and to returning home.
Only applicants with strong proposals, outlining their research objectives, methodology, time-frame, and justification for conducting the research in the U.S. will be short-listed for interviews.
Preference will be given to applicants who have not studied in the U.S.
Those in business, law and accounting should understand that most U.S. institutions rarely accept research students in these fields due to high demand for full-time programs and tuition concerns. Therefore, we face great challenges in finding placements for such grantees unless their proposals are tilted toward economics, development-related areas, democracy, human rights and conflict resolution.
Application and Instructions: The application and instructions can be found at:
https://apply.iie.org/ffsp2021
All applicants must fill out the application forms completely and attach their supporting documents online (3 academic and professional references, Curriculum Vitae, academic transcripts from each post-secondary institution attended and writing sample.)
Applicants should log onto the website, enter an e-mail address and create a password. Please remember this password because it will be used throughout the application process. Applicants are also advised to read the instructions preceding the application carefully and seek the assistance of senior colleagues who are Fulbright alumni before they fill out the forms. All FFSP program applicants should select “Visiting Researcher “or “non-degree” as their degree objective in their applications.
Note: The Fulbright program is a popular program, the Public Affairs Office will ONLY NOTIFY SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES.
Complete Application:
A complete application includes:
- An online application which includes:
a clearly written research objective
a professional resume
Three letters of reference specifying the personal, academic and professional competence of the candidate (submitted electronically and attached to the online application) - Official academic transcripts from each post-secondary institution attended should be scanned and attached to the online application; (official paper transcripts should also be sent at a later date)
- TOEFL or GRE score reports.
Hardcopies of official academic transcripts and other supplementary documents should be forwarded to our office by regular mail. Please address the envelope to:
Fulbright Foreign Student Program Assistant, Public Affairs Section, U.S. Consulate General, 2 Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos.