The Fulbright Australia, United Kingdom, United States (AUKUS) Scholar Award

Announced in 2021, AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States intended to ‘promote a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.’ In accordance with the Fulbright values, this award empowers scholars to forward innovation and collaboration between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and to help solve common challenges that impact the Indo-Pacific, the trilateral partners, and the world. 

The AUKUS Scholar Award supports projects through an interdisciplinary, collaborative model that will inform policy and support a more secure, peaceful, and sustainable Indo-Pacific future. This includes research focused on international maritime security and nuclear deterrence. This award focuses on the strength of bringing together scholars from diverse trainings and disciplines to collaborate on topics of importance to the three nations, the Indo-Pacific region, and our global community. 

In addition to being a prestigious academic exchange program, the Fulbright Program is designed to expand and strengthen relationships between the people of the United States and citizens of other nations and to promote international understanding and cooperation. To support this mission, Fulbright Scholars may be asked to give public talks, mentor students, and otherwise engage with the host community, in addition to their primary activities‎. 

Applicants are expected to procure letters of invitation from relevant departments at higher-education institutions or research institutions in the U.K. and Australia where they will be hosted for the duration of the grant.  In the project statement, applicants should clearly outline their project plans in each country and the amount of time needed in each country to pursue the project. 

Projects proposed for this award should start between September 2027 and May 2028. This award allows applicants to undertake consecutive country visits or pursue the Flex option which would allow two different country visits to be pursued over a one-year period.  

This award will fund up to four U.S. scholars to pursue projects in both the U.K. and Australia, spending at least three months in each host country. The maximum grant length including both country visits is nine months. Please note that dual citizens of either the UK or Australia are not eligible to apply for this award. 

Contact Information

Fulbright U.S. Scholar Outreach and Recruitment: Institute of International Education (IIE), East Asia and the Pacific enquiries: [email protected]