2011 Fulbright Symposium

Applications to host the 2011 Fulbright Symposium have now closed.

Each year the Australian-American Fulbright Commission offers a grant of $30,000 to an institution or organisation selected to host the Fulbright Symposium. The Fulbright Symposium centres around a current topic of binational interest between Australia and the United States and engages leading speakers from both countries.

The aim of the Fulbright Symposium is to publicly demonstrate the Fulbright Commission's mission of "promoting mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and Australia through educational and cultural exchange".

The Fulbright Symposium is to be held between 1st March and 30th September 2011, and must be identified as the 'Fulbright Symposium' in all publicity. The grant is a contribution towards the cost of organising the symposium and may be applied to any cost elements at the discretion of the organisers.

Selection Criteria

• Topic - the topic must be current and relevant to the Australian-United States bi-national relationship, to promote the Fulbright Commission’s global mission, and be distinctive and thought-provoking.
• Outcome / Benefit - the potential impact on bi-national and global relations needs to be clear. Define your participants/audience, experience of speakers, potential to challenge current debate and vision for the future.
• Program - detail all aspects of the program, the format it will take, the opportunity for exchange and a clearly outlined budget. This needs to be a well thought out and clearly presented program.
• Publicity Plan - clearly define the publicity plan and potential outcomes for both the Symposium and the Commission, including the plans for publishing the associated papers on-line or in appropriate journals.
• Level of Support - define the potential level of support that you will receive from universities, organisations and/or sponsors. Please include a letter of support from the Head of your organisation.

Preference will be given to proposals that have a sharp focus and include a number of high quality papers from acknowledged experts in the field. It is not necessary for the proposals to be for a large national or international conference with numerous papers. Proposals for smaller meetings or invitational conferences involving prominent thinkers in the field are encouraged. The Symposium could incorporate a conference, international workshop or think tank.

Within this framework, and recognising the need to defray costs, the Commission would not expect registration charges to be set at a level which would act as a deterrent to broad participation. Co-sponsors may also be involved.

The successful proposal will draw on the expertise from Australia and the United States and will present a program which challenges current thinking while providing a vision of the future which will both stimulate debate and help shape future directions.

The Commission expects to be kept informed of the development process; to attend the Symposium; to receive a statement of account following the event; and to receive a copy of all the papers presented and accompanying publications.

Application Information

Applications for the 2011 Fulbright Symposium have now closed.