Mexico
Region: The Western Hemisphere
There are four types of Fulbright grants to Mexico. 18 FULBRIGHT/GARCIA ROBLES GRANTS Language Fluent or advanced Spanish is strongly recommended.
Grant period 9 months. Start dates must correspond with the academic semester (August/September or December/January).
Fields of study not recommended Medicine and dentistry.
Affiliation Candidates who plan to conduct research for their theses or dissertations should provide a letter of approval from their home institution advisers. Applicants must affiliate with a Mexican academic institution, primarily a university, research institution, or NGO, and should secure a letter of affiliation. Those applicants who are selected as grantees and who do not have confirmation from an appropriate Mexican host institution may be assisted by the Fulbright Commission in Mexico (COMEXUS) to identify and negotiate an affiliation with a Mexican institution or university.
General comments COMEXUS is especially interested in attracting students pursuing fieldwork or internships in public administration or public policy. Other fields of interest for COMEXUS are projects on Mexican culture, society and politics to deepen the understanding of Mexico in the United States. Areas of collaboration go far beyond border issues, which are also of relevance to COMEXUS, and can include projects on migration, ecological issues, public health, education, public policy, environmental protection, human rights, and trade policy. COMEXUS will also support projects in the arts that further dialogue and contact between U.S. and Mexican arts communities.
Visa requirements For all awards, candidates must have an FM-3 visa before entering the country on a Fulbright scholarship. COMEXUS will process the FM-3 visa for the grantees and their dependents prior to their arrival in Mexico. Those candidates possessing dual U.S. and Mexican nationality are required by Mexican law to enter Mexico on their Mexican passport and will not receive an FM-3 visa.
Dependents Grants are increased by US$150 per month for grantees with one accompanying dependent and by US$250 for two or more dependents.
Contact usprograms@comexus.org.mx
Website www.comexus.org.mx
10 FULBRIGHT ENGLISH TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS Language Proficiency in Spanish is required. Successful candidates must be articulate speakers of English with native fluency.
Grant duration 9 months, from September to May. The program starts with an orientation organized by the Fulbright Commission and the Mexican Ministry of Education (Secretaría de Educación Pública: SEP) in Mexico City. Attendance at the orientation is mandatory.
Candidate profile Applications are welcome from BA and MA levels. Candidates with degrees in English, Spanish, education, TESOL, or applied linguistics with some experience in teaching or tutoring are preferred. Other fields will be seriously considered if combined with teaching experience and/or coursework in pedagogy. Preference will be given to candidates with expressed interest in pursuing a career in education. Candidates must be under 29 years of age at the time of application and be in very good health.
Affiliation The Commission, in coordination with SEP, will place grantees at institutions in the public education system, normally at the public university level. Placements at some teachers colleges (Escuelas Normales Superiores) and technical colleges are also considered. Placements can be made in any Mexican state, so applicants must be flexible regarding geographic location. Details of assignments will be subject to communication between SEP, the Fulbright Commission, and the Mexican host institution. The academic profile of the selected candidate and the host institution’s needs are important in determining the final placement. Note: Given the range of placements, applicants may highlight a preference for secondary school or university placement based on their professional background and career goals.
Housing Grantees will be responsible to arrange housing; however, the host institutions may assist the grantees in finding options.
Responsibilities ETAs will be assigned as language-learning assistants, but will not be responsible for teaching entire courses. Responsibilities may include giving presentations on topics related to the United States (culture, society, history), preparing classroom activities, and conducting English conversation clubs. Teaching assistant responsibilities will be up to 18 hours per week; therefore, grantees are expected to engage in other activities related to their educational or professional interests. Even though candidates will not know where they may be placed if awarded a grant, applicants should discuss ways they would utilize this opportunity for independent study, research or other related activity.
Dependents Accompanying dependents are not permitted in this program. 4 Graduate Degree Program Grants
Refer to this program in your Statement of Grant Purpose and list under Special Programs on the Fulbright application. Language Fluent or advanced Spanish is strongly recommended.
Grant period 10 months, September through June preferably.
Affiliation Applicants must secure an affiliation with a Mexican university and present a letter of acceptance from the admissions office of that university prior to receiving the final grant offer. Applicants are responsible for applying to the university’s graduate program in addition to the Fulbright grant.
Special allowances COMEXUS will offer up to 50,000 pesos per academic year to cover the costs of tuition and other relevant degree program expenses, as determined by the Commission, to all grantees regardless of area of study. The Commission will also assist grantees in obtaining tuition waivers when possible.
Specific program considerations COMEXUS will support up to four academic semesters in Master’s and six academic semesters in Doctoral programs. Selected candidates will receive an initial two semesters of funding. Approval of subsequent financial support will be subject to academic performance and availability of funds. Benefits include monthly maintenance (up to ten months per calendar year) and one round-trip ticket.
3 Public Policy Initiative Program Grants Refer to this program in your Statement of Grant Purpose and list under Special Programs in the Fulbright application.
General comments Pursuant to the Commission’s interest in public policy, the Fulbright Commission will fund three grants specifically for students conducting fieldwork or research in the areas of public administration or public policy. 9 BINATIONAL BUSINESS GRANTS Refer to this program in your Statement of Grant Purpose and list under Special Programs on the Fulbright application. Language Excellent spoken and written Spanish is required at the time of application.
Grant period 10 months, September through June.
Candidate profile Applicants with a bachelor’s in business administration, finance, economics, international relations, engineering, or accounting, or some other business-related field and some work experience are preferred. Candidates with graduate studies will also be considered. Candidates with a bachelor’s degree in other fields and with a demonstrated interest in business will also be considered.
Affiliation Following final selection, COMEXUS will arrange the placement of grantees through trilateral matching involving participating companies, grantees and the Commission. In this process, grantees and companies express their three best placement options in order of preference. Grantees in Mexico City can attend courses at either the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) or the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) at the Santa Fe campus location. Grantees who are placed in Monterrey will be placed at the ITESM in that city. In the last two years, COMEXUS has placed grantees in the following companies: Ashoka, Banamex, Banorte, Endeavor, Fondo Unido, Grupo BAL, NAFTA Fund, New Ventures, Procter & Gamble, Prudential Real Estate Investors, Rothschild Bank, Scotiabank, and Volaris among others. Please note that the list of participating companies and NGOs is subject to change every year. While the majority of placements are with for-profit companies, each year there are usually opportunities to work in the non-profit sector as well.
Structure of grant The main focus of this unique Fulbright program is to give U.S. students the opportunity to acquire professional experience by working for a company or an NGO in Mexico. In addition, this program allows grantees to take graduate courses (i.e., a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 during the nine-month grant period) in academic areas such as business, finance, international trade, and comparative law, among others, to supplement their work experience). Grantees work as interns five days a week in their assigned companies, and attend university in the evening, one to three days per week. This grants provides grantees with business, academic, and cultural experiences in Mexico. This tripartite structure achieves the Binational Business Program’s goals of fostering mutual understanding and respect, the exchange of culture and ideas, and the building of interpersonal relationships between future Mexican and U.S. business and political leaders. In addition to their internships and coursework, grantees are invited to participate in cultural activities and events organized by the Commission, thus ensuring that the grantees have sufficient opportunities to expand their knowledge of Mexico beyond the office and the classroom.
In terms of the professional benefits of the program, grantees with only undergraduate degrees have been able to obtain business placements that give them levels of responsibility that they might not be able to achieve in the United States. These grantees frequently place primary emphasis on their work placements, and often end the Fulbright grant year with offers of full-time employment (either in Mexico, the U.S., or even European offices). Similarly, grantees without graduate degrees who want to go on to higher study have had success in being accepted to the most competitive U.S. business and law schools. Grantees with graduate degrees have been able to obtain educational and work experiences that complement their formal education, enabling them to achieve a competitive advantage in the business world upon the completion of the program.
Tuition University fees are covered by the grant.
Specific program considerations Applicants should take into consideration that this Fulbright grant will cover basic living expenses in either Mexico City or Monterrey. One round- trip ticket (U.S.-Mexico-U.S.) will be covered. Grantees may incur additional costs related to working in a business environment that are not covered by the grant.
Statement of Grant Purpose Instead of a research proposal, the following three points should be addressed: 1) Areas where the applicant could benefit from and make the best contribution to a Mexico-based company conducting international business; 2) Aspects of the applicant’s academic background (coursework, workshops, special courses, etc). and professional experience (specific jobs and assignments) that would allow the applicant to benefit from the experience and contribute to a company during the internship and in the classroom; 3) Expected benefits from the internship and courses and their relationship to the applicant’s future career plans. In mid February 2010, COMEXUS will conduct telephone interviews in Spanish with the recommended candidates prior to the final selection process.
Dependents Grants are increased by US$150 per month for grantees with one accompanying dependent and by US$250 for two or more dependents. Contact usprograms@comexus.org.mx
Website www.comexus.org.mx
Newsletter http://www.comexus.org.mx/Boletines.htm
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