Global Funding OpportunitiesFunding sources and unique programs

There are many potential sources of funding for faculty members interested in intercultural research, teaching, consulting, or other activities, and there are also a number of programs administered specifically for faculty participants (fee-based). The list below includes some of the most well-known opportunities and is by no means an exhaustive listing.

To discuss proposal ideas and/or seek feedback on proposal drafts for the programs listed here, please contact the Director of International and Cultural Education. For external grant programs, faculty members are also strongly encouraged to work with the Gustavus Grants Office.

NOTE: For teaching and research opportunities to be undertaken during a semester or year of sabbatical leave, faculty members should seek approval of their sabbatical activity plans through the Sabbatical Leave Approval process.

Jump to a specific program:

On-campus funding opportunities:
CICE Global Learning Grants
CICE Site Visit Funds

Fee-based workshops and events:
CIEE International Faculty Development Seminars
SIT Faculty Seminars Abroad
IES Faculty Development Seminars Abroad

Off-campus funding opportunities:
Fulbright Scholar Program 
Bellagio Center Residencies
DAAD (Germany) Awards
SAI Faculty Fellows Program
Matteo Ricci Faculty Fellowship at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies (Loyola)
John Felice Rome Center Faculty Fellowship (Loyola)
Reseach Associates at IES Abroad Sites


Other opportunities

On-campus funding opportunities

CICE Global Learning Grants

Each year, CICE awards grants for the purposes of developing new global learning programs (study away, exchanges, and other models) and participating in intercultural professional development activities. We also usually set aside at least one award for a faculty member to participate in a faculty international seminar offered by partners such as SIT, IES, and CIEE This grant program is suspended for 2019-20 due to funding constraints.

CICE Site Visit Funds

For Gustavus faculty members and administrators who are already planning travel to a particular country, world region, or region of the U.S. outside of Minnesota, modest supplemental funding may be available to add a brief site visit at one of Gustavus' intercultural program sites. Generally speaking, these funds are very minimal (i.e., a few hundred dollars or less) and intended to offset local travel or expenses to conduct a visit of anywhere from half a day to two days. Contact Roger Adkins as early as possible to discuss the possible availability of funds.


Fee-based workshops and events

CIEE International Faculty Development Seminars

Each year, the Center for International Educational Exchange (CIEE), an intercultural program partner located in Portland, Maine, offers an array of IFDS programs that are short, intensive, experiential study away opportunities for faculty. A few are offered in January, with te majority offered early in the summer. All faculty members and administrators are welcome to apply for any IFDS course, regardless of the specializations/topics. The courses have a program fee that is largely comprehensive, excluding airfare, some meals, and personal expenses. Eligible for CICE Global Learning Grants.

SIT Faculty Seminars Abroad

The School for International Training (SIT) also offers faculty seminars in international locations. Limited SIT aid is available for applicants beginning October 1 of each year. Eligible for CICE Global Learning Grants.

IES Faculty Development Seminars Abroad

IES Abroad offers one faculty development seminar each year at one of their study away program sites. These seminars are heavily subsidized, such that $650 to $900 is the current contribution for faculty from a member school like Gustavus. Interested faculty members must be nominated by the CICE Director, so please send a short statement of interest to Roger Adkins if interested. Internal Gustavus deadlines are usually two weeks to one month before the IES deadline. Eligible for CICE Global Learning Grants.


Off-campus funding opportunities

For all of the awards listed below, interested faculty are encouraged to work with Roger Adkins for advising and draft review, but you must also work with Sarah Bridges in the Office of Government Grants and Sponsored Programs.

Fulbright Scholar Programs

The Fulbright Scholar Programs include competitive, funded international opportunities for university faculty and staff members, as well as certain other groups of professionals. The Council for the International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) administers all Fulbright Scholar programs.

IMPORTANT NOTE for prior Fulbright recipients: CIES announced in 2014 that there are no longer lifetime limits on the number of Fulbright awards that an individual may hold, and no minimum time required between awards. Returning applicants are strongly encouraged to choose new destinations and/or new specific awards or programs.

There are three main types of awards:

  • Core: The core Fulbright Scholar program funds annually over 800 research and/or teaching awards, generally between three and six months in duration, to U.S. faculty and professionals, with over 125 destination countries. Specific duration, specific type (research, teaching, research/teaching, etc.), and other award characteristics vary widely. Interested faculty members may use the online search tool to locate award opportunities of interest. Most awards have an annual application deadline in August (generally at least one year prior to departure). This award category also has four subcategories:
      • Faculty: Fulbright Distinguished Chair Awards: The most selective and prestigious group of Fulbright Scholar awards; funds distinguished chair placements in research, teaching, or both.
      • Faculty with recent PhDs: Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar Awards: Much like a stateside postdoctoral placement, the Fulbright postdoctoral awards fund recent recipients of terminal degrees (usually last five years) in STEM fields, the arts, humanities and social sciences. Recipients generally mentor graduate students, give public lectures, participate in seminars, teach courses, and/or conduct research.
      • Fulbright Global Scholar Awards provide U.S. academics and professionals with the flexibility to engage in advanced trans-regional research activity or combined teaching/research activity. With this truly worldwide award, U.S. scholars will be able to collaborate and engage in scholarly activities in two or three countries representing two or three world regions. Grants may consist of one multi-country trip, two or three single country trips or two dual-country trips.
      • International educators and responsible administrators: Fulbright International Education Administrators Program funds participation in intensive (usually 10 days to two weeks) introductions to the educational contexts of particular countries for international educators (e.g., professionals who work in study abroad or international student and scholar services) and higher-ranking university officials who oversee international education operations.
  • Fulbright Specialist Program: The specialist program funds intensive, two- to six-week engagements between U.S. specialists in selected fields only with well-defined international project requests. U.S. applicants seek to join a roster of project candidates, while international professionals request projects. (Examples might include: helping set up a new academic program at an international university, or participating in a short-term effort to solve a particular problem.) Fulbright then matches specialists to a possible project. Once a U.S. applicant applies to join the roster, the application is sent to peer review. If approved by the peer review, the candidate joins the roster for a period of five years. Joining the roster does not obligate the candidate to any particular project, nor does it guarantee that a candidate will be appointed and become a “Fulbright Specialist” (only appointees to specific projects are considered Fulbright grantees).
  • Fulbright NEXUS Regional Scholar Program: The NEXUS program brings together interdisciplinary groups of scholars, researchers, and mid-career professionals with relevant expertise to address specific, environmental problems of regional interest in the Western Hemisphere. The awards consist of a series of three seminars and a Fulbright exchange experience. Typically each group includes five U.S., five Brazilian, and ten other Western Hemisphere participants.
Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency Fellowships

The Bellagio Center (also known as Villa Serbelloni) is a dedicated research and seminar facility located just outside the town of Bellagio, Italy, on the shore of Lake Como (45 miles north of Milano). The Center offers residency fellowships for academics (working on an academic writing project, including teams of up to four scholars working on a single project), creative artists (composers, fiction and non-fiction writers, playwrights, poets, video/filmmakers, and visual artists) and practitioners (policymakers, nonprofit leaders, journalists, and public advocates). Fellows enjoy quiet and uninterrupted time for individual work during the day, followed by evenings of formal and informal discussions and interactions with other resident fellows in diverse fields and professions – a combination that is intended to lead to a synthesis of individual and collaborative achievements.

DAAD Awards

The DAAD, or Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service), funds a wide variety of activities for everyone from undergraduate students through full professors and higher-ranking university officials, both in Germany and in international settings with German students and/or faculty involved. Awards for instructional and research faculty members (16 programs in all) include such diverse opportunities as: research stays of one to three months’ duration, funds for participating in conferences in Germany, short-term lectureships, German language training, the DAAD Science Tour (an intensive introduction to cutting-edge computer science research in Germany), group study visits for short-term faculty-led U.S. student groups, and RISE worldwide (the incoming side of the RISE program, which matches high-achieving undergraduate German students in STEM fields with laboratory research projects in the U.S. and other locations). Each award on offer is explained in the website for faculty DAAD awards.

SAI Faculty Fellows Program

SAI (Study Abroad Italy), one of Gustavus' study away program partners, also offers two one-month research fellowships in Italy each academic year: (1) one in Florence or Rome, open to faculty in all disciplines, and available in summer or late fall semester; and (2) one in Milan in design-related fields and available in summer only. The deadline is in early January of each year. Gustavus faculty are eligible because Gustavus is an SAI-affiliated college.

Matteo Ricci Faculty Fellowship at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies (Loyola)

Loyola University's Beijing Center offers two fellowships each year for currently non-tenured faculty to broaden their research and scholarship activities in China, foster a deeper connection with TBC, interact with professors and research colleagues at TBC, and contribute to the student learning experience on-site (through a few guest lectures). The deadline is typically in November each year.

John Felice Rome Center Faculty Fellowship (Loyola)

Loyola University's John Felice Rome Center offers one fellowship each year for currently non-tenured faculty to broaden their research and scholarship activities in China, foster a deeper connection with the JFRC, interact with professors and research colleagues at the JFRC, and contribute to the student learning experience on-site (through a few guest lectures). The deadline is typically in November each year.

Research Associates at IES Abroad Sites

Gustavus is a full member institution of IES Abroad, and many of our students participate in IES study away programs. Regular faculty members (i.e., adjuncts are not eligible) may also apply for research associateships at any IES Abroad site. The placements fully fund up to one month and include travel and housing allowances. Participants conduct research and give a few guest lectures in the program's courses.

Other opportunities