Stages of the Competition

The competition for the Fulbright Program consists of 3 rounds.

First Round:

Application deadline: June 1, 2010. All applications are reviewed and evaluated by Russian and American experts from the respective fields of study. Results of the first round will be e-mailed in August.

Second Round:,

Interviews are held in Moscow and potentially in other cities around Russia such as St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, and Yekaterinburg in September. All candidates will take the internet based TOEFL exam at this time as well.

Information about the test can be found on the Internet at: http://www.toefl.org

During this round the Fulbright Program pays nonresident candidates’ transportation to Moscow and back. If necessary, the program also makes hotel reservations and pays for the candidate's stay during the second round.

All second round participants should bring certified copies and translations of their diploma of higher education and transcripts. Please provide diplomas/transcripts for all degrees attained.

Third Round:

The third round takes place at the end of September with a Russian-American evaluation commission including employees from the Cultural Affairs Section at the US Embassy in Moscow. Using the results from the first and second rounds, they select those candidates who will be recommended to receive a grant. Once the results have been decided on October 1st, all participants of the competition will be informed by e-mail of their status.

All documents for each recommended candidate are then sent to the Institute of International Education (IIE) in New York which distributes the information to the appropriate universities in the United States. The Institute of International Education reserves the right to choose a university for each Fulbright-funded student, even if a candidate has specific preferences.

The finalists of the competition become official participants of the program only after:

1. Results of the TOEFL exam have been considered.
2. The Institute of International Education has confirmed his/her acceptance in a university in the USA.
3. The nominee has been approved by The J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board.
4. Finalists are required to complete the ON-LINE APPLICATION upon request from the Fulbright office (in case they submitted documents for the competition initially in another way).
5. Finalists are required to submit a completed and approved medical form which then should be approved by a medical board in the USA.