The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program sends American academics, professionals, and artists abroad. The Thailand route is administered by the Thailand-United States Educational Foundation, known as TUSEF or Fulbright Thailand, a binational foundation set up in 1950 and funded jointly by the two governments.
Grantees spend four to six months at a Thai higher education institution. The work can be teaching, research, a combination of the two, or a professional project such as consulting on curriculum and faculty development.
Fulbright Thailand offers three of these grants a year. Applications go to the worldwide competition at fulbrightscholars.org rather than to the Bangkok office, and the 2027–2028 round closes on 15 September 2026.
Benefits & funding
- Four to six months in Thailand on a Fulbright grant funded jointly by the U.S. and Thai governments.
- Three grants available each year on the Thailand route.
- The applicant chooses the activity: teaching, research, teaching and research together, or a professional project.
- Fulbright Thailand does not publish allowance figures on its program page; the amounts sit under the Award Benefits tab of the award entry in the catalogue at fulbrightscholars.org.
Eligibility
- U.S. citizenship at the application deadline; permanent residence does not qualify.
- A PhD or equivalent terminal degree; some disciplines accept a master’s degree.
- Applicants outside academia need recognized professional standing and a substantial record of achievement.
- Teaching experience at the level and in the field the award specifies.
- Foreign language ability where the award requires it.
- Sound physical and mental health; finalists file a Medical History and Examination Report.
- Anyone who has lived abroad for five or more years in the six years before the deadline is ineligible.
- Dual citizens may be ineligible for an award in the country of their second nationality.
- A maximum of two Fulbright Scholar grants over a lifetime, with a two-year wait after a previous Fulbright Scholar award.
- Grants do not cover activities requiring a license to practice medicine or nursing, nor pastoral, missionary, or professional religious work.
- Staff of the U.S. Department of State, IIE, Fulbright Commissions, and the Foreign Scholarship Board, and their immediate families, are ineligible until a year after they leave.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Eligible nationalities
USA
Education required
Master · PhD
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Application process
- 1Find the Thailand award in the catalogue at fulbrightscholars.org and check its activity type, length, and discipline.
- 2Approach a Thai host institution; supply up to three invitation letters where the award requires or prefers them, due 25 September 2026.
- 3Write the project statement: three to five pages, single-spaced, 12-point type.
- 4Prepare a CV of up to six pages and the four short essays on country selection, why Fulbright, cultural preparation, and teaching preparation where it applies.
- 5Add what the activity requires: a bibliography of up to three pages for research, syllabi of up to ten pages for teaching, a language evaluation where the award asks for one, and a portfolio for arts and journalism applicants.
- 6Ask two colleagues or supervisors to upload recommendations by the deadline.
- 7Submit in the online application system by 15 September 2026, 5:00 PM EDT.
Program timeline
February 2026
2027–2028 competition opens
Application deadline, 5:00 PM EDT
15 September 2026
Host invitation letters due
25 September 2026
Peer review
October–November 2026
Peer review results
December 2026
Selection
December 2026–May 2027
Selection notification
January–June 2027
Grants begin
August 2027 – January 2028