Review Process	Traditional Fulbright Scholar Program
Preparing to Apply > Chat Transcripts

Question: For lecturing awards, how much weight do reviewers place on the project statement vs. the syllabus vs. the letters of recommendation?
Answer: All of those things are taken into consideration, but the project proposal is the centerpiece.  It is your best opportunity to present the argument for why you want a grant, what you propose to do, and what the outcomes will be.

Question: What is your sense of how many apps are advanced/cut at each level in the review process? (I'm applying to S. Africa for a research award; one of 10 lect/res awards)
Answer: The number of applications that are recommended or not at each level in the review process varies enormously not only from award to award, but from year to year.  Program officers can give you a general sense of the competitive level of any country. The numbers vary, the types of applications and fields vary from year to year. Generalized statistics are often not really very helpful.

Question: My understanding is that one level of review is former Fulbright award recipients in one's general area (e.g., social sciences) who may not know a specific area of research (e.g., demography, criminology). First, is this correct? And second, how many people review the application at each level? Could you go into a little bit more detail about who reviews the Fulbright Scholar applications?  I want to make sure to not blow over the top with the research depth, but also to not dumb it down too much.
Answer: Applications in the hard sciences, arts, and professional fields are reviewed by specialists in the same field.  All applications in all fields are reviewed by 'peer review committees' of US scholars and professionals in a variety of fields who have some experience with the country or region to which you propose to go.  Many but not all are former Fulbright Scholars.

Question: I am a scientist and wrote a proposal in collaboration with my host. I am almost done but wondered if the proposal was going to be reviewed by people in my specific field, or perhaps people in humanities?
Answer: The proposal will be reviewed by people in your specific field and also by many others outside your field.  So, the project has to make sense to fellow specialists, but also be comprehensible to people in the humanities, for example.

Question: What indications are available regarding the progress of review?
Answer: You will get a letter after the US review and then, after the overseas review is done, another letter.

Question: What are the time frames for these letters?
Answer: Letters notifying those recommended or not recommended come in December or January, usually; notification of selections comes in the spring.

Question: Is there time to say a bit about the review process in the host country?  Are they looking at the applications that have been advanced with a different set of eyes?
Answer: In the host country, they review the recommended applications.  They do have their own set of eyes and their own, more intimate sense of what will work. They will be more aware of the needs of host institutions, but there too the applications will be reviewed by a mix of people.

Question: If applying for a distinguished chair position, will people from the hosting institution be the reviewers, since they are the ones to directly receive the successful candidate?
Answer: The host institution does review applications in the later stages of review.