Description: The International Institute Experiential Learning Fund is designed to support faculty-led group travel for undergraduate, graduate or professional school students wishing to incorporate an education abroad experiential component into an ongoing course, group internship, or other academic program during either winter break or spring-summer terms. Although grants are primarily for student costs and it is expected that most faculty costs will be covered by their home department, the International Institute will consider requests for no more than half of the cost of (non-student) expenses. Grants are up to $10,000.

Eligibility Criteria: Proposals must be from faculty and must make clear the experiential component of the program—“experiential” meaning student learning through participation in course-related activities outside the classroom. Proposals must also make clear the manner in which the program will give students an opportunity to acquire and use insights about the society in which the program (or its overseas component) will take place. Finally, proposals must identify the faculty member(s) who will be actively involved in site selection, planning, and evaluation of the overseas experience. In general, the expectation is that faculty will lead the trip. In some cases (e.g., group internships) faculty may appoint a colleague in-country to manage the trip. The International Institute has a preference for trips that include students from multiple units, as well as initiatives that have potential both for a continuing contribution to students at the University of Michigan and for long-term engagement with host country partners and institutions. Trips may be part of a non-credit experience, but should be part of a well-defined course or curricular program. Grants will not be awarded for humanitarian trips, projects with the primary purpose of service learning, or conference travel.

Deadline: Monday, December 3, 2012 & Monday, February 25, 2013. Requests for trips taking place over winter recess 2013 must be submitted by December 3, 2012. Requests for trips taking place during spring/summer 2013 may be submitted at either the deadline: December 3, 2012 or February 25, 2013.

Application Submission: Requests may be submitted in hardcopy or via email to Kelly Peckens and should include the following information:

• Application Form
• Description of the program (maximum length of four pages): include information on the educational value of the experience to the participants. Be explicit about the experiential nature (hands-on component) of the trip. What makes the activities substantially different than classroom lectures on the Ann Arbor campus? The review committee is multidisciplinary and reviewers are not likely to be from your discipline. Also include the expected benefits to the host country institutions.
• Budget: include per-student cost for airfare, lodging, food, local transportation, visas, and required immunizations. Include other sources of funding (on or off-campus), if any. View a Sample Budget
• Itinerary
• List of participants or a description of the selection process by which participants will be chosen
• Course syllabus

Contact: Kelly Peckens (kpeckens@umich.edu)

Description: The Council for International Exchange of Scholars, on behalf of the U.S. State Department, administers the “Core Fulbright Scholar Program,” which annually makes available fellowships in roughly 140 countries to over 800 US scholars and professionals from a wide variety of academic and professional fields. These prestigious grants are a major source of funding for lecturing or conducting research abroad. 

Eligibility:  Eligible applicants must be U.S. citizens, normally must have relevant postdoctoral academic lecturing experience if they wish to lecture—or a doctorate (or other terminal degree, including a master’s in some fields) or equivalent professional qualifications if they want to do research abroad, and for some countries must possess sufficient language competence for the project they wish to undertake.

Benefits:  Awardees generally receive roundtrip travel, a living allowance that varies with the country and number of dependents, and a small allowance for local travel abroad, books, and services. The duration of the grants usually range from 2 to 12 months.

Deadline:  The competition for 2014-15 awards will open on February 1, 2013, and the application due date will be August 1, 2013.

Submission:  Interested applicants must apply online directly to CIES at www.cies.org, where complete application materials and information are also available.

Assistance:  Although the U-M International Institute does not administer any aspect of this competition or these awards, we have been trained by CIES and are able to provide information, instructions, editorial assistance, review criteria tailored to each application, and professional advice on how best to structure an application for this particular competition: e-mail Beni at unlisted@umich.edu.  

Description: The International Institute contributes to the support of conferences and workshops that make substantial contributions to international learning on the University of Michigan campus and in the Ann Arbor community. Grants of up to $2,000 are available to graduate and professional school students and faculty for the purpose of planning and conducting research-related conferences, symposia, and workshops in area and international studies.

Eligibility Criteria: Events must meet on campus and cost sharing is required. Preference will be given to events that demonstrate a strong interdisciplinary focus. Grants may not be used to support established seminars or lecture series.

Application Deadline & Submission: Applications must be submitted 90 days in advance of the proposed activity and must include:

• A letter of request.
• A budget, including information about other sources of funding sought and/or confirmed.
• Details regarding the planned event. 
• An International Institute Funding Request Cover Sheet: Download Document. 

 Contact: Cheryl Wahl, (cwahl@umich.edu), 734-763-4528

Description: The International Institute Fund for Performances, Films, and Exhibitions provides support for performances, films and related programs, exhibitions, and activities that make substantial contributions to international learning on the University of Michigan campus and in the Ann Arbor community. Events must be held on campus and cost sharing is required. Proposals that involve original curation, research, and instruction will be given priority

Eligibility Criteria: Grants are available for graduate and professional school students and faculty. Grants may not be used to support established performances or exhibitions as a part of a regular series sponsored by departments, schools, and other units.

Application Deadline & Submission: Applications must be submitted 90 days in advance of proposed activity and must include:

• A letter of request.
• A budget, including other sources of funding sought and/or confirmed, and, for public performances, income expected from the event.
• Details of the planned event.
• An International Institute Funding Request Cover Sheet: Download Document.

 Contact: Cheryl Wahl, (cwahl@umich.edu), 734-763-4528

Description: U.S. Department of Education (US/ED) Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad (FRA) Fellowships are only for a very narrow range of faculty members who wish to conduct 3-12 months of research abroad that leads to the development or strengthening of modern foreign language or area studies curricula at the University of Michigan and is also related to their teaching specialization and their research interests. There are generally only 20 awards available nationally each year.

Eligibility Criteria: Applicants for these awards may be either U.S. citizens or permanent residents who have been engaged in teaching relevant to their specialization in modern foreign languages or non-West-European area studies courses for at least two years prior to the time the research begins and who will continue to be employed by this university during the tenure of this award. Their research projects must be 3-12 months in length and designed so that they are relevant to their specialization. These awards are not given for dissertation research nor for research that could be conducted in the U.S.A.  All eligible applicants must be on Beni's US/ED Fulbright email user group no later than 15 days prior to the local U-M deadline.

Deadline: No competition was held for 2012-13 awards. If there is a competition in 2013 for 2013-14 awards the deadline will be announced in the early months of 2013 following Congressional approval of funding.

Application Submission: All application materials are submitted online through Beni at the U-M International Institute.

Contact:  Both the competition and all subsequent awards are administered by Beni at the U-M International Institute. For information, instructions, advice, and application materials, email Beni at unlisted@umich.edu.