The Austrian-American Educational Commission/ Fulbright Austria (AAEC) is one of the 50 bi-national commissions under the

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

, which exists in order to promote “mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the peoples of other countries.” The program was established in 1946 as part of a bill dealing with the liquidation of surplus US assets left in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Over 60 years later, the

has over 310,000 alumni and carries out its mission in 155 countries. The Fulbright Program fulfills its mission of mutual understanding by facilitating the exchange of students and scholars between countries. The AAEC provides grants for US citizens to teach, engage in research or study in Austria, and offers Austrian citizens parallel opportunities in the United States. AAEC programs are primarily funded by direct contributions from the Austrian and American governments.

Fulbright for US Citizens

US Students

The AAEC provides Fulbright grants for up to 20 recent undergraduates and graduate students from the US to study and engage in research in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Applications from US citizens are first sent to th
Institute of International Education
in mid-October for pre-screening. Selected semifinalists' files are then sent on to the AAEC in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and a committee of Austrian and American academics chooses the grantees, who are informed of their selection by the end of April. According to their website, the AAEC offers 7 full research grants to students, as well as 12 combined grants, in which the grantee works 13 hours per week as an English teaching assistant in an Austrian secondary school in addition to studying at a university and conducting research.

US Scholars

The Austrian American Educational Commission awards Fulbright scholarships to scholars in diverse fields for various time periods, depending upon the individual grant and the strength of the applicant pool in that particular year. According to the AAEC website, twelve joint awards were offered by Fulbright and its partner institutions in 2011-12, as well as one grant from the Fulbright 'core program' and a distinguished chair position. Positions and fields vary somewhat from year to year, due to funding and the fact that different universities host scholars and have varying departmental needs.

Fulbright for Austrians

Austrian Students

The Austrian American Educational Commission offers up to 15 grants to Austrian students who wish to pursue a master's degree in the US. The AAEC considers applications in all fields except for business and medicine, and LLM law programs.

German Language Teaching Assistants

The Austrian American Educational Commission also offers up to 15 grants for Austrians to work as German language teaching assistants at US schools as part of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant program ( FLTA). GLTAs work approximately 20 hours per week for the whole school year and can take classes at their host institutions.

Austrian Scholars

The Austrian American Educational Commission provides opportunities for Austrian scholars in various fields to teach and conduct research in the US. Positions and fields change from year to year, however there is generally a partnership with the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, the new Fulbright-Botstiber Award for American Studies, and a senior fellow at th
IFK
as well as general teach/research positions.

Other AAEC Programs

United States Citizen Teaching Assistantships in Austria

Though not a Fulbright grant, the Austrian American Educational Commission/Fulbright Austria administers the United States Teaching Assistantship program (USTA) on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture. USTAs are

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

citizens who have completed a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

, are under 30 at the time of application, and have an interest in teaching

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. The USTA program places approximately 145 teaching assistants in secondary schools across Austria, where the TAs provide a first-hand perspective on the ' American way of life' while assisting with English language skills. USTAs work in their schools for 13 hours per week, from October to the end of May.

EducationUSA EducationUSA is a US Department of State network of international student advising centers in more than 170 countries. Officially a branch of the Office of Global Educational Programs, a part of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA ...
Advising

The Austrian American Educational Commission also advises students at large about the US educational system. AAEC representatives can often be seen at university study-abroad fairs providing information about studying in the USA.

Noted Alumni

Chuck Close Charles Thomas Close (July 5, 1940 – August 19, 2021) was an American painter, visual artist, and photographer who made massive-scale photorealism, photorealist and abstract portraits of himself and others. Close also created photo portraits ...

, American, hyperrealist painter: recipient of the National Medal of the Arts (2000), appointed by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

to the

President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) was an advisory committee to the President of the United States on cultural issues. It works directly with the White House and the three primary cultural agencies: the National End ...

;

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

* Friedrich St. Florian, Austrian, designer of the US

National World War II Memorial The World War II Memorial is a national memorial in the United States dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial consists o ...

on the Mall in Washington D.C.;

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Paul Harather Paul Harather (born 30 March 1965 in Mödling, Lower Austria) is an Austrian film director, producer and screenplay author. He is considered one of the early artists in Austria's new wave film (1990s to the present). Harather studied at the Unive ...

, Austrian, director of "Indien;"

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

Wilhelm Holzbauer Wilhelm Holzbauer (3 September 1930 – 15 June 2019) was an Austrian architect, noted as a "pragmatic" modernist. He was a student of Clemens Holzmeister at the Vienna University of Technology between 1950 and 1953. In 1956–57, he studied at t ...

, Austrian, noted

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

architect;

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

Stefan Sagmeister Steve (born August 6, 1962) is an Austrian graphic designer, storyteller, and typographer based in New York City. In 1993, Sagmeister founded his company, Sagmeister Inc., to create designs for the music industry. He has designed album covers for ...

, Austrian, graphic designer: designed the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Bridges to Babylon ''Bridges to Babylon'' is the twenty-first studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released by Virgin Records on 29 September 1997. Released as a double album on vinyl and as a single CD, it was supported by the year-long worldw ...

and other cover art (see :Albums with cover art by Stefan Sagmeister), winner of 2 Grammy Awards;

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

* Monsignor

Peter Vaghi Peter Vaghi is an American Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Washington and a former lawyer associated with several noted American jurists. He currently serves as the Chaplain of the John Carrol Society. In 2025, Archbishop Emeritus of The A ...

, American, Catholic priest: chaplain of the

John Carroll Society The John Carroll Society was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1951 as a spiritual and beneficent organization for Catholic professional laypersons in the service of the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington. The founders of the society were S ...

, presided over the funeral of New York Senator

Daniel Patrick Moynihan Daniel Patrick Moynihan (; March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and social scientist. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he represented New York (state), New York in the ...

;

University of Salzburg The University of Salzburg (, ), also known as the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (''Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg'', PLUS), is an Austrian public university in Salzburg, Salzburg municipality, Salzburg (federal state), Salzburg State, ...

* :de:Hannelore Veit, Austrian, Journalist for

ORF (broadcaster) (ORF ; , ) is the national public broadcaster of Austria. Funded from a combination of television licence fee revenue and limited on-air advertising, ORF is the dominant player in the Austrian broadcast media. Austria was the last country in ...

; Notre Dame *

Ruth Wodak Ruth Wodak (born 12 July 1950 in London) is an Austrian linguist, who is Emeritus Distinguished Professor and Chair in Discourse Studies in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University and Professor in Linguistic ...

, Austrian, Distinguished Professor and Chair in

Discourse Studies ''Discourse Studies'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the field of discourse analysis, especially articles that offer a detailed, systematic and explicit analysis of the structures and strategies of text and talk, their co ...

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

;

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

References

External links

Fulbright Austria website