The applicant will be affiliated to one U.S. host institution. USIEF strongly recommends all applicants to indicate affiliation preference, and to correspond, in advance, with potential host institutions. If the applicant has secured a letter of invitation from a U.S. institution, they must include it as a part of the online application.

The fellowships provide J-1 visa support, a monthly stipend, Accident and Sickness Program for Exchanges per U.S. Government guidelines, round-trip economy class air travel, applicable allowances and modest affiliation fees, if any. No allowances are provided for dependents. The grant is not sufficient to support family members.

In addition to the General Prerequisites

• This grant is intended for Ph.D. students to conduct research essential to their dissertations/thesis. Therefore, the expected Ph.D. thesis submission date should be at least three months after the Fulbright-Nehru grant end date. For example, if May 2028 is the grant end date, the applicant cannot submit their thesis before August 2028. Please indicate the Ph.D. registration date and the expected Ph.D. thesis submission date in the Applicant Annexure.
• The applicant should provide clear justification on the need for undertaking research in the U.S. and the U.S. institution identified for the research. They should have done reasonable study pertaining to their research objectives, especially in the identification of resources in India and the U.S.
• Applicant must be registered for Ph.D. at an Indian institution on or before November 1, 2025. On the online application form, one of the recommendation letters must be from the Ph.D. supervisor that comments on applicants’ research, need for the fellowship, and must indicate the Ph.D. registration date and topic.
• If the applicant is employed, they must follow the instructions carefully regarding employer’s endorsement. If applicable, please obtain the endorsement from the appropriate administrative authority on the FNDR Employer’s Endorsement Form. The employer must indicate that leave will be granted for the fellowship period; and
• The applicant must upload a copy of the original published/presented paper or extracts from the Masters’/M.Phil. thesis on the online application form (not exceeding 20 pages).
• Employees of the Government of India and Indian State Governments are not eligible for any Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships. This includes civil servants in central services (such as IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS, and allied services), state government services (including state civil services), and bureaucratic staff employed in central and state ministries or departments. However, researchers, scientists, and academicians from CSIR, ICAR, ICGEB, DRDO, ISRO, ICMR, DBT institutions, DST laboratories, BARC, IISc, and IITs, as well as other centrally funded government institutions and universities, are eligible to apply.

Note: These fellowships are for pre-doctoral level research. Applicants with Ph.D. degrees or those at the final stage of Ph.D. thesis submission will not be considered.

1. Applications must be submitted online at: https://apply.iie.org/ffsp2027
2. Please carefully review the FNDR Applicant Instructions before starting your online application.
3. Please refer to FNDR Applicant Checklist before submitting the application.
4. In addition, you must complete FNDR Applicant Annexure and FNDR Employer’s Endorsement Form (if applicable) and upload on your online application.

Timeline and Placement Process

For any queries contact: ffsp@usief.org.in