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Netherlands
Number of recipients
In addition to being a prestigious academic exchange program, the Fulbright Program is designed to expand and strengthen relationships between the people of the United States and citizens of other nations and to promote international understanding and cooperation. To support this mission, Fulbright Scholars may be asked to give public talks, mentor students, and otherwise engage with the host community, in addition to their primary activities.
These grants are for teaching or teaching/research in all fields. For teaching/research applications, the teaching component of the proposal should be at least 50%. Whether courses are taught designated by the host or of the applicant's choosing is decided in consultation between the applicant and host.
Applicants can arrange an affiliation with any university in the Netherlands where teaching can be done in English. The application should contain a letter of invitation.
The length of the grant period is four months.
Grants should begin at either the start of the Fall Semester 2025, or the start of the Spring Semester 2026. The Fall semester usually starts at in the last week of August or first week of September, Spring semester starts either at the beginning of January or February, depending on the host university. In consultation with the host, there is an option for the grantee to stay after the conclusion of the grant period or to start earlier (without Fulbright grant payments).
All applicants must meet the Program eligibility requirements (click to review the requirements).
Please submit a letter of invitation with your application, which indicates which course(s) you will be teaching and any additional teaching duties. For a lecturing/research proposal, please also include information about your research.
All teaching will be in English. For a research component, language proficiency sufficient to complete the proposed project is required. For applicants without local language proficiency, feasibility of conducting the research project should be demonstrated in the project statement.
Recent Ph.D.'s as well as more established scholars are welcome to apply.
Information on the Dutch education system can be found at the Dutch Ministry of Education website. Other helpful links include: The Netherlands and you, Dutch Government Topics in English, and the Dutch Fulbright Commission.
A stipend of approximately $ 3,225 per month, for 4 months (exchange rate December 2023). The stipend is paid out in local currency, € 3,000 per month for 4 months.
International travel provided for the grantee of approximately $1,075 (exchange rate December 2023). The international travel allowance is paid out in local currency, € 1,000, after arrival in the Netherlands.
An estimation of the cost of living in the Netherlands in can be found via Numbeo, or Expatisan for instance. Especially in university cities, renting apartments for a period shorter than 12 months can be rather expensive. Fulbright the Netherlands suggests to ask the host university for assistance on this, as they may have contact/contracts for short term housing. Public transport is very reliable, but also fairly expensive compared to some other European countries. For getting to work when living in the same city, grocery shopping etc. most Dutch people use their bicycles.
The costs of the residence permit for the scholar (approximately $215/€207, rate December 2022) will be reimbursed.
Final grant amounts will be determined prior to the start of the academic year and are subject to the availability of funds. The United States Department of State and the Fulbright Commission in the host country reserve the right to alter, without notice, participating countries, number of awards and allowances.
Netherlands
Living in the Netherlands
The Netherlands is a fairly densely populated small country, with good public transport and other amenities. It is centrally located in Europe, and is easily reached by a number of US cities with direct flights to Schiphol Airport. English is the second language and most Dutch citizens understand and speak it. Therefore, settling in and living in the Netherlands will not be a problem without speaking Dutch. Most Dutch universities have a number of courses that are taught in English. In general, U.S. Scholars coming with children tend to enroll their children in either an international school or a bi-lingual school, which most major cities have. The Dutch tend to have a good work/life balance, where weekends and evenings are considered private time.
Higher Education in the Netherlands
The Netherlands has approximately 49 institutions of higher learning; 13 of these institutions are universities where research is combined with teaching, the research universities. The other 36 universities are universities of applied science, where more emphasis is placed on professional fields. The two systems have been moving more towards each other in recent years, with the universities of applied sciences also getting involved in research and the research universities giving more practical courses.
Research Universities
Degrees offered are bachelor's (after three years of study), master's (after one or two years) and Ph.D. Students working towards their Ph.D.. Ph.D. "students" are usually employed by their universities, and more seen as employees, they usually combine teaching with dissertation research. Three universities, Delft, Twente and Eindhoven, qualify as 'technical' universities with their main focus on STEM fields. In addition, one university, Wageningen, specializes in the agricultural sciences. Furthermore, the universities of Nijmegen, Tilburg and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are denominational. The other six universities are broad 'classical' type of universities.|
The level of research and study at Dutch universities is quite high and Dutch scientists publish widely and frequently. Most of the universities have created smaller undergraduate 'university colleges' with U.S. liberal arts colleges as their model, next to their regular undergraduate education. They attract a great number of students who are admitted selectively, while most Dutch students have the automatic right to be admitted to a university if they have the appropriate high school diploma.
Universities of Applied Science
The largest number of students in higher education in the Netherlands can be found in the so-called "hogescholen" (HBO) or universities of applied sciences. They tend to focus more on professional/practice oriented education. There are 36 hogescholen spread out over the country. A bachelor degree at a university of applied science takes 4 years. There are a limited number of HBO Master programs. Art academies and conservatories fall within this category of professional education. Most U.S. Fulbright Scholars are affiliated with a research university. However, affiliations with universities of applied science are also a possibility. Teaching at the universities of applied science tends to be mostly in Dutch.
Dutch academic year and other details
The Dutch academic year starts at the end of August or beginning of September and runs until the end of May or beginning of June. This may vary per institution. Tuition fees are low for Dutch citizens and citizens of EU countries, but are higher for non-EU students. As not all universities have a campus comparable to U.S. campuses, and do not always offer campus housing, students and staff may live in the cities and/or commute rather than living on campus. Teaching in English is common at Dutch research universities. Among the universities of applied sciences, conservatories and art schools in particular have a high percentage of international students.
Teaching or Teaching/Research
All applications from U.S. scholars must contain a teaching component. Fulbright Commission the Netherlands believes that teaching guarantees the best multiplier effect.
Useful links
Some links with more information that may be useful:
A description of the Dutch educational system can be found on the website of the Dutch Ministry of Education.
More general information on a variety of topics can be found on this website.
The Fulbright Commission the Netherlands website can be found here.
Visit our Scholar Directory to view and search all Fulbright alumni. You can also learn more about Fulbright Alumni Ambassadors.
Applicants should ask their host institution for help on finding housing. Applicants may supplement their grants with stipends from institutions in the Netherlands or the United States or with other non-Fulbright sources. Visit the Fulbright Commission website for more information or contact Ms. Linda Pietersen, Fulbright Program Manager, by email l.pietersen@fulbright.nl.