With the objective of promotion and development of modern foreign languages and area studies through the educational structure of the United States, the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) program provides grants to colleges and universities to fund individual doctoral students to conduct research in other countries, in modern foreign languages and area studies for periods of six to 12 months. Eligibility is restricted to students who possess the requisite language skills for the dissertation project, who have a strong area studies background, and who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
The Office of International Affairs administers the U.S. Department of Education's Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad program. Applicants must possess a strong background in area studies and modern foreign languages. All doctoral degree candidates proposing full-time dissertation research abroad on topics that develop research knowledge and capabilities in world areas not commonly taught in U.S. institutions are encouraged to apply.
Application Process and Package
Competitions are held annually, pending the availability of funds. Graduate students must apply through the Office of International Affairs.
The FY 2025 Fulbright-Hays DDRA competition is open. The Ohio State deadline for submission of all application materials is Thursday, January 2, 2025.
If you are interested in applying for the FY2025 grant cycle, you must contact Fulbright-Hays Project Director Joanna Kukielka-Blaser to register interest and discuss the application process ASAP.
Ohio State graduate students may be eligible for either or both the Fulbright U.S. Student Program or the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program. See a comparison chart for the differences between these two programs.
Recipients
2024 - 2025
Henry Misa (doctoral candidate, Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences) for “Adapting to the Medieval Megadrought in Transoxiana-Uzbekistan”
Tal Shutkin (doctoral candidate, Department of Geography, College of Arts and Sciences) for “Glacier Change and Social Hydrology of the Cordillera Huaytapallana”
2023 - 2024
Natalie Wright Romeri-Grass (doctoral candidate, Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences) for “From Fighters to Farmers in My Back Yard? Social Cohesion Among Unlikely Neighbors in the Hardest of Contexts”
Mohamed Shedeed (doctoral candidate, Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences) for “Tribal Identity and the Politics of Water Management in Jordan”
2022 - 2023
Julian Baldemira (doctoral candidate, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, College of Arts and Sciences) for “Breaking Imperial Showcases. Indigenous Resistance in the Human Exhibitions of Nineteenth Century Brazil”
José Pérez (doctoral candidate, Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences) for “Refugee Resettlements and Social Integration: Security, Migration, and the State in Contemporary Brazil”
2020 - 2021
Jenn Marie Nunes (doctoral candidate, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, College of Arts and Sciences) for "Writing Practices and Gendered Subjectivities of Women Migrant-Worker Poets in Taiwan and South China"
Harold Wright (doctoral candidate, Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences) for "Food Security, Identity, and Social Networking among Indigenous Residents of Parque das Tribos, Manaus, Brazil"