The Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellowship Program provides opportunities for doctoral students to engage in dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. The program is designed to contribute to the development and improvement of the study of modern foreign languages and area studies in the United States, and provides grants to colleges and universities to fund individual doctoral students to conduct research in other countries in modern foreign languages and area studies for periods of 6 to 12 months.

Click here to see the DDRA press kit published by the Department of Education.

Click here to see the Award Information (including estimated available funds, average size of award, estimated number of awards, and project period).

Click here to see eligibility information published by the Department of Education.

Agency URL: U.S. Department of Education Fulbright-Hays--Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad
Federal Register: Applications for New Awards; Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship Program

These links will are the primary and most current source of information, directly from the sponsoring agency, regarding agency deadlines*, eligibility, and application process.

*See also the Internal Deadlines section below to meet UCSD timelines for submission.

A single Fulbright-Hays DDRA application must be submitted on behalf of the UC San Diego campus. To ensure the application is submitted on time, GEPA sets internal deadlines so that the Project Director and the Contracts and Grants Officer to review the individual student applications prior to both OCGA review deadlines and the agency submission deadline.

Delaying submission to accommodate one applicant who does not meet the internal deadline would jeopardize all of the other applicants. 

Students will use the G5 system to affiliate their individual application with UC San Diego, as well as prepare and finalize it for submission. The Program Director then compiles individual doctoral student submissions and incorporates them into the institutional grant application that is submitted electronically through the G5 system. GEPA acts as the Program Director for UC San Diego.

Application instructions can be found here (look for an MS Word document under "Current Application") – please review the entire document closely as it includes budget guidance, allowable costs, the list of documents required for submission and other important details.

Note: pay special attention to the information in the “Guidelines for Student Applicants" section about the required Human Subjects Narrative. If your research involves human subjects - whether UCSD IRB approval is current, pending, or exempt - you will need to provide a separate narrative to the Program Director in a text-editable format (e.g. Google Doc, Word, etc.). This document will be incorporated into the institutional grant proposal compiled by the Program Director (you will not attach the document to your individual application in G5). The narrative you provide will either be an “Exempt Research Narrative” or a “Nonexempt Research Narrative” – please thoroughly review the definitions and required points the narrative must address here: Instructions to ED Supplement to SF 424 (PDF).

For all of the required materials, all attachments and submitted forms must follow Fulbright-Hays DDRA formatting guidelines and page limits. If the application exceeds the page limit, the submission will be rejected.

Take a look ahead at what you can expect if you are selected as to receive a DDRA Fellowship! These documents are the actual orientation, handbook and other guidance provided to Fellows in the current cycle in progress (that is, the year prior to the current submissions cycle).

Please use them to familiarize yourself with requirements and logistics as you plan your proposed research itinerary and budget.

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For questions or assistance, please visit support.ucsd.edu/students and submit a help ticket. Select the following options / include "Fulbright-Hays DDRA" in the subject line as follows:

Click here to view a list of FAQs published by the Department of Education.

See the Orientation Handbook for DDRA Fellows section (located above, click the > to expand) to see documents provided to 2022 Fellows.

Enrolling In Absentia status will reduce tuition costs while maintaining health insurance coverage (as part of campus-based fees). 

Please work with your academic home department to identify an appropriate funding source to cover the costs of tuition & fees, per the financial support letter you received at the time of admission. You will need to provide documentation from your department for how fees will be covered for the duration of your fellowship at the time of application.

See the below UC SHIP FAQ for including health insurance in your proposed budget.

Yes - UC SHIP (sometimes referred to as GSHIP) insurance does meet the DDRA requirement for health insurance that includes emergency medical evacuation and repatriation of remains.

When preparing your proposed budget, use the current rate for Mandatory Health Insurance (see Registration Fees > Graduate student fees), with the following adjustments:

• escalate the current rate by 3% for each academic year
  Note for 2024: UC SHIP costs are expected to escalate by 30% for AY2425 to reflect actual costs of the premium; please plan accordingly.  

• pro-rate the cost for any quarter to reflect only your time in the field

Yes - please see https://blink.ucsd.edu/travel/external/insurance.html for details.

Important Information

The Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs does not assume responsibility for errors or omissions in the applicant's submission.

We will do our best to review the format of the proposal; however, the final responsibility for format, content, and completeness always rests with the applicant.

Please proofread the application fully and connect with both the Graduate Financial Support Unit and your departmental fund manager for additional guidance prior to submission.