The Commission on Cultural, Educational and Scientific Exchange between Spain and the United States of America (Fulbright Commission), together with the collaboration of the University of Valencia, celebrates in Valencia its annual grantees reunion. These grantees are 183 North American students who are staying in Spain and Andorra.

The institutional opening of the Fulbright grantees evaluation seminar has taken place at the Assembly Hall of the Faculty of Philology, Translation and Communication and it has been hosted by the Principal of the University of Valencia, Mª Vicenta Mestre, the ambassador of the United States to Spain and Andorra and Honorary Co-chair of the Fulbright Commission, Duke Buchan III,  the executive director of US-Spain Fulbright, Alberto López and the spokesperson for the US-Spain Fulbright board, Mª Teresa Díez.

The purpose of these conference is to evaluate from an academic point of view the grantees’ projects and their integration in Spanish society. To this aim, the grantees will participate in work sessions about the different aspects of their experience, their social and academic involvement, the difficulties they have overcome and the success they have achieved. The objective is also to publicize the city and region they are visiting. For that reason, the grantees will enjoy several cultural and leisure activities aimed at complementing their knowledge about the city of Valencia.

The Fulbright Program is one of the most prestigious postgraduate exchange programs and the only one that has the approval of the Spain and the United States governments, since it has been granting scholarships to academic excellence for 60 years. In recognition of its internationality and their bet on fostering cooperation and understanding values, the Fulbright Program was acknowledged with the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in 2014.

Currently, there is an open call for a maximum of 25 scholarships for Spanish graduates who wish to complete postgraduate studies in American universities in any module in 2020. The end date for the reception of applications is the 11^th of April of this year. You can find more information about this call at the Fulbright webpage. 

For more than 60 years, the Commission has been running the Fulbright scholarships, from which 5,549 Spanish and 3,238 North American grantees have already benefited.  This program, present in more than 160 countries, seeks to ensure that the grantees get to have an in-depth knowledge of the society they are visiting. This way, they can promote respect and coexistence between nations, as well as the mobility of talent in a globalisation environment.

The success of the Fulbright Program is guaranteed by its former grantees, since many of them are nowadays prominent members of society who pursue recognised careers. By way of example, among the former grantees there are writers such as Ana María Matute or Miguel Delibes, scientists such as Mariano Barbacid or Federico García Moliner; film-makers like Carlos Saura or Daniel Sánchez-Arévalo; politicians like Javier Solana or Josep Borrell, journalists such as Guillermo Fesser or Montserrat Domínguez, as well as winners of more than 10 national awards, 59 Nobel Prizes and 6 Prince of Asturias Awards.

This is a binational Commission, regulated by the representatives of both countries and high offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and the Embassy of the United States for Spain and Andorra as co-chairs. Their purpose is to supervise and determine all of the yearly objectives. Funding comes from funds that are assigned each year by both governments and it relies on the support of several ministries, regional governments and Spanish companies.