Vladimir Gil, 2012-13 Fulbright NEXUS Grantee from Peru

The Fulbright Regional Network for Applied Research (NEXUS) Program will bring together a network of junior scholars, professionals and mid-career applied researchers from the United States and other Western Hemisphere nations for a series of three seminar meetings and a Fulbright exchange experience.

At its core, the Fulbright NEXUS Program will foster collaborative and multidisciplinary research to address challenging regional issues and produce tangible results.

• Up to twenty outstanding scholars and practitioners from the U.S. and abroad will be selected as Fulbright NEXUS Scholars to participate in the program through an open competition. Approximately one-third of grantees will be selected from the United States. Approximately two thirds of the grantees will originate from Western Hemisphere countries other than the United States. Program activities will commence in November 2012 and conclude in September 2013.
• Fulbright NEXUS Program will provide a platform for scholars from across the region to engage in collaborative thinking, analysis, problem-solving and multi-disciplinary research in one of three inter-related topics:
  
  • Science, Technology and Innovation
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Sustainable Energy

Projects focusing on climate change adaptation strategies, and/or public policy focused research ventures that examine strategies to cope with climate variability, including extreme events, are particularly welcome.

• In order to create a platform for collaborative thinking and analysis, Fulbright NEXUS combines the core Fulbright research exchange experience with a series of three in-person seminar meetings and ongoing virtual communication among the multinational and multidisciplinary participants under the guidance of the Fulbright NEXUS Lead Scholar. NEXUS Scholars will be challenged to move beyond their individual research and to engage in collaborative examination of the program themes.
• NEXUS Scholars will work in research teams in the program thematic areas described earlier. Scholars will engage in integrated group research as members of designated teams. Combining nationalities and disciplines, each team will include 4-5 participants. In addition to the Lead Scholar, each of the NEXUS research teams will select a coordinator to lead their respective groups.
• While NEXUS Scholars’ pursuit of individual research objectives will be intrinsic to a collaborative and comparative analysis of the issues elaborated by the program, prospective applicants should be advised that at the time of application they will be expected to identify up to three local stakeholders from a range of sectors (i.e. NGOs, government, private industries) that have a demonstrated commitment to the application of the proposed research projects as potential model solutions to real-life challenges. Scholars will be expected to integrate selected stakeholders into their research and may invite up to two stakeholders to participate in the interim (second) group seminar meeting.
• At the end of the program year, NEXUS Scholars will convene for the third and final meeting in Washington, DC to share the results of their collaborative interactions and report on the accomplishment of program objectives and the national and regional implications of their findings. Scholars will disseminate policy-relevant recommendations, describe the concrete steps they have taken in implementing their projects and models at the local, national and/or regional level, and share the progress they have made and challenges they have faced in moving their recommendations from theory to practice.
• NEXUS Scholars will receive funding in the amount of USD$30,000. This allowance is intended to support travel to all program meetings, travel and maintenance for the exchange visit, research materials and assistance for grantees only. Accommodations and meals for program seminar meetings will be covered for the grantee separately. Grants will also include limited accident and sickness benefits.