Five British universities to waive tuition for WUN-Fulbright U.S. post

Five British universities to waive tuition for WUN-Fulbright U.S. post

Future global leaders in science and society will be developed under a new partnership between the Fulbright Commission and the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) that will substantially increase opportunities for postgraduate scholar exchange under the Fulbright Program.

The five British member universities of WUN -- Universities of Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield, Southampton and York -- will waive the tuition fees of Fulbright scholars coming to their campus from one of their partner universities in the U.S. under this agreement. Penn State is among the American partners along with University of California at San Diego, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Washington and University of Wisconsin.

Michael Arthur, new chair of WUN and vice chancellor of Leeds, said "We are absolutely delighted at this new venture with the Fulbright Commission, working in overseas centers of excellence provides fundamental insights into why, not just how, research is different around the world and builds this international standpoint into students' perspectives from the very beginning of their careers."

The Fulbright Commission offers approximately 40 awards annually, for postgraduate study, lecturing or research in the U.K. and U.S. each year. The program was established with the twin goals of fostering academic excellence and understanding between nations through educational exchange.

Fulbright scholars are selected not only on academic merit but also for their leadership potential and their commitment to internationalization and the wider community. A Fulbright award for Postgraduate study typically provides tuition fees and a general living allowance for one academic year.

Postgraduates are largely overlooked in the globalization of higher education where the focus is on undergraduate exchange and leading researchers. By coming together Fulbright and WUN aim to reaffirm the key role of postgraduates in the global research endeavor.

Penny Egan, executive director of the U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission said "This partnership between the Fulbright Commission and WUN will add to the diversity of our program by increasing the number of awards we can make each year and by spreading our reach to new centers of excellence. As all the institutions involved are highly respected there is no question of compromising the very high standard that we expect from our scholars."

WUN is a global platform of leading universities committed to sustained collaboration and the world's leading research and educational alliance. WUN has developed a specific focus on enhancing experiences for graduate and post-doctoral students alongside its core research mission and has run a successful international research exchange program since 2003.

The web site is at: www.wun.ac.uk.