Fulbright NEXUS Regional Scholar Program

Fulbright NEXUS Regional Scholar Program

The Competition for 2014 is now open Deadline: April 1, 2014 The 2012-2013 NEXUS Cohort visited Capitol Hill to meet with House and Senate Committee Members to share the successes of individual and collaborative research projects. The Fulbright Regional Network for Applied Research (NEXUS) Program will bring together a network of junior scholars, professionals and mid-career applied researchers from the United States, Brazil and other Western Hemisphere nations for a series of three seminar meetings and a Fulbright exchange experience. At its core, the Fulbright NEXUS Program fosters collaborative and multidisciplinary research to address challenging regional issues and produce tangible results. Twenty outstanding scholars and practitioners from the U.S. and abroad will be selected as Fulbright NEXUS Scholars to participate in the program through an open competition. Five of the scholars will be selected from the United States, five from Brazil, and the remaining ten will come from other Western Hemisphere countries. Lead Scholars Dr. Daniel M Kammen and Dr. Sergio Pacca will provide intellectual leadership to the 2014 NEXUS Scholars.  Program activities will commence in June 2014 and conclude in May 2016. The Fulbright NEXUS Program will provide a platform for scholars from across the region to engage in collaborative thinking, analysis, problem-solving and multi-disciplinary research in one of five areas: Renewable Energy, including Micro-Grid Innovations; Social and Behavioral Adaptation to Climate Change; Measuring Climate Change and its Impact (Metrics and Standards); Climate Change and Biodiversity; Climate Change and Food and Water Security NEXUS Scholars will work in research teams in the program thematic areas described above. Scholars will engage in multidisciplinary group research as members of multinational teams. In addition to the Lead Scholars, each of the NEXUS research teams will select a coordinator to lead their respective groups. For examples of previous group projects, click here. Prospective applicants should be advised that at the time of application they will be expected to identify up to three potential stakeholders from a range of sectors (i.e. NGOs, government, private industries) that would make a substantive contribution to the group research and be committed to ensuring relevant research projects are implemented in the United States, Brazil, or elsewhere in the region. At the beginning of the program, an initial orientation meeting will be held in Brasilia. This will provide the Lead Scholars and research teams the opportunity to launch the collaboration and establish guidelines and goals. The research teams will share progress to date and initial outcomes at a mid-term meeting that will be hosted by another country in the Western Hemisphere At the end of the program, NEXUS Scholars will convene for the third and final meeting in Washington, DC to share the results of their collaborative work and report on the accomplishment of program objectives and the national and regional implications of their findings. Scholars will disseminate policy-relevant recommendations, describe the concrete steps they have taken in implementing their projects and models at the local, national and/or regional level, and share the progress they have made and challenges they have faced in moving their recommendations from theory to practice. Fulbright NEXUS Scholars will receive funding in the amount of USD$35,000 for the duration of the program. This allowance is intended to support travel to all program meetings, travel and maintenance for the exchange visit, research materials and assistance for grantees only. Accommodations and meals for program seminar meetings will be covered separately. Grants will also include limited accident and sickness benefits. Fulbright NEXUS will be funded jointly by the US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), and the Brazilian Ministry of Education, Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Studies (CAPES).