As the results of Fulbright Program winners continue to roll in, it appears to be another good year for Bowdoin applicants.
So far, several Bowdoin students and alumni have received the prestigious scholarship this year and one student has been named as an alternate. There are still a few who said they are eagerly awaiting their results.
Alex Reed '10 received an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) grant to teach in Uruguay where she will be teaching 20 to 25 hours a week.
"I get to do fun things like give presentations on the United States and create classroom activities to help my students practice their English," she wrote in an e-mail to the Orient.
Reed said she has a fairly good idea of what she wants to do outside of the classroom, too.
"I plan to fill the rest of my time by taking political science classes at an Uruguayan university and just generally try to get to know as much of Uruguay and its people as I possibly can," Reed wrote. "I also hope I'll have the chance...to volunteer."
An additional four current and former students were granted ETAs for the 2010-2011 academic year. Scott Nebel '09 will be teaching in Germany, Taylor White '07 will be teaching in Norway, John Lehman '10 is deciding between Germany and Austria, and Leslie Wittenbraker '06 will be teaching in the Dominican Republic.
One Bowdoin student, Tenzing Lama '10, was awarded Fulbright's Study/Research Grant in France and fellow senior Elisa Kim has been named as an alternate for South Korea.
This grant does not have a teaching component like the ETA program, but rather enables a student to "conduct research and or study in one country for an academic year," according to the Fulbright website.
Recipients of the Study/Research Grant are also given greater flexibility in what their experience involves. They are able to design their own programs, which can include coursework at a university, field research or professional training.
Lama, said Director of Student Fellowship and Research Cindy Stocks "declined [the award] because he received a Keasbey Fellowship."
This prestigious award is given to only two students each year from 12 of the nation's top colleges and universities: Amherst, Bowdoin, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Haverford, Middlebury, Princeton, Swarthmore, Wesleyan and Yale.
The Keasbey Fellowship allows students to study for two years at Oxford, Cambridge, University of Edinburgh or University College of Wales at Aberystwyth. Lama will be studying at Oxford beginning in the 2010-2011 academic year.
According to Stocks, a Fulbright is not too shabby, either.
It is "quite an accomplishment and quite an honor to be offered a Fulbright," said Stocks. "The program is very competitive, and getting more so."
The Fulbright Program, according to the scholarship's website, seeks to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries."
Fulbright scholars, "chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential," are given "the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns."
Stocks said Fulbright has "two primary programs that Bowdoin students apply to. One is the ETA, and the other has two names, Study/Research or the Full Grant."
The ETA programs, which are typically offered in 55 countries depending on travel restrictions and security issues, are designed by each host nation. Generally, these programs entail teaching English in elementary or high schools.
ETA recipients have the ability to become directly immersed in the culture and language of their host countries because they only teach for "about 20 hours a week," said Stocks.
Grantees, according to the Fulbright Web site, are expected to "pursue individual study/research plans in addition to ETA responsibilities," which can include "academic, vocational, or community service project[s]."
For the 2008-2009 academic year, there were 6,700 applications for 1,500 awards. For the 2010-2011 academic year, however, there were 8,500 applications for 1,600 grants.
Institutional fellowships for summer research at Bowdoin are also becoming increasingly competitive.
"We had 84 applications this year and we made 33 awards and that is about 10 more applications than last year," said Stocks.
"I think there are several factors at play," said Stocks of the increase. "Part of it is cultural shift that is happening here at Bowdoin. More and more students are seeing it as part of their Bowdoin experience to stay and do research at that level. I am sure the economy put pressure on the number of applications, as well," she said.
These fellowships allow students to "work closely with a faculty member over the course of the summer to carry out research," she said. With faculty guidance, students establish a timeline, scope and goals for the project.
"Often," Stocks said, "the research leads into a senior honors project."
Summer research projects give students "a lot of momentum...so when they come to the end of their senior year they can really produce something of very, very high quality," she said.
This year, students that received institutional fellowships will be conducting research in biology, biochemistry, computer science, geology, math, English, classics and music.
Students can also apply for departmental fellowships. When a specific department on campus "has received a grant...they have their own committee that makes the award," said Stocks.
The third category of fellowships is the faculty research grant fellowship.
"When an individual faculty member receives a grant to support his or her research, often, there is also money to support a student to help carry out the research," said Stocks.
In this case, the faculty member can select a student to conduct research.
Stocks said that her office is still working to determine how many students have received grants for summer research, but she expects it to be about 120.
It "is really tremendous for a school of Bowdoin's size [to be] that research active," said Stocks.