Distinguished (Senior) Scholar Fellowship

Fulbright Israel will award up to eight fellowships for senior faculty members, professionals, or accomplished artists or writers for visits to Israeli institutions of higher education, to be carried out during the 2026/27 academic year. The program is open to all fields of knowledge; scholars’ proposed activities may include research, lecturing, or a combination of lecturing and research. The grants will support visits of four months. Assistant Professor or higher academic rank (or equivalent professional standing) is required.

Grants can begin between the period of July 2026 - May 2027

For more information please click here

Additional general information on the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program may be found here https://fulbrightscholars.org/

Application deadline: September 15, 2025

Eligibility requirements apply at the time of application. For full details on all Fulbright U.S. Scholar program eligibility requirements, see the CIES website.

• A letter of invitation from an accredited Israeli institution of higher education is required at the time of application. Candidates must be hosted by an accredited Israeli institution of higher education. For the complete list of such institutions, click here.
• Each candidate should arrange his/her institutional affiliations in Israel independently, including development of the program of work for the proposed visit through contacts with possible host institutions.

For full details on the Fulbright U.S. Scholar review process, see the CIES website. During its review of the recommended pool of applications, Fulbright Israel applies the following criteria:

• Academic excellence (or equivalent professional or artistic excellence) is the primary criterion for the evaluation of candidates.
• Leadership qualities are an important evaluation criterion.
• Preference will be given to candidates who have not had substantial, recent professional experience in Israel.
• Preference will be given to candidates who have not had previous Fulbright grants.
• Hebrew/Arabic language proficiency is not an evaluation criterion.
• Possession of skills required to promote mutual understanding between the United States and Israel is an important evaluation criterion.
• Fulbright Israel wishes to emphasize that, while stressing professional qualifications, it is interested in achieving representation of the various geographic regions and ethnic groups of the United States in the panel of American Fulbright Fellows.

Applicants might be invited for a Zoom interview with a Fulbright commission.

Fulbright Israel reserves the exclusive right to determine, within the framework of applicable law and regulations, the qualitative standards for the evaluation of applications forwarded to it by the responsible agency in the United States. Fulbright Israel is not under any obligation to provide the reasons for its decisions regarding the allocation of Fellowships.