We are afraid of financing problems, as well as the unpleasantness associated with immigration, applying for visas extension, traveling in the US – says in an interview with tvn24.pl Zuzanna Kocjan, an astrophysicist, a Fulbright scholarship holder. Donald Trump's administration suspended the financing of scholarships by the Department of Scholarships such as Fulbright. – It is very sad, because when I got into this scholarship, I thought that I grabbed God's legs and a life adventure awaits me – explains Joanna Stempyń, a speech therapist and reporter.
The Department of State suspended the payment of grants in mid -February, which influenced many years of international exchange and foreign studies, including scholarship programs. The AP agency described the story of Aubrey Lay, Fulbright Scholarship Scholarship holder. He was to receive a grant for three months of work at a school for Ukrainian refugees in Estonia. Instead, he only received a weekly salary.
The freezing of the funds caused panic among subsidies beneficiaries who got stuck outside their native countries, not sure about the future of the program or the money needed to support themselves.
– Each of us feels anxiety when it comes to the future, especially scholarship holders who implement longer scientific programs in USA – comments Zuzanna Kocjan, astrophysicist, Fulbright Scholarship holder at the University of Maryland-College Park for the business editorial office of tvn24.pl.
What worries you the most? – We ask. – We are afraid of financing problems, as well as the unpleasantness of immigration, applying for visas extending, and traveling in the USA. This applies especially to people from South America and Asia and scientists working on research related to sexual culture, medicine, environmental protection – says Zuzanna Kocjan.
62 people with Nobel Prize, 80 with Pulitzer
The Fulbright program has a long tradition, it was founded 79 years ago and consists in the scientific and cultural exchange of the United States. According to information on the website, among graduates and graduates of Fulbright in the world there are, among others, 62 people who received the Nobel Prize and 89 Winners and Winners of the Pulitzer Award.
“A modest program with an immodest great goal,” said Fulbright program, its originator and initiator, senator J. William Fulbright.
After the end of World War II, Fulbright was determined to take actions to prevent further international conflicts. He was convinced that in the process of rebuilding trust between nations, scientists and leaders of academic communities around the world will play a key role.
In Poland, Fulbright has been operating since 1959 and has over 5,000 graduates and graduates. Our interlocutor Zuzanna Kocjan at the American university examines the interstellar matter in the galaxies.
– I create theoretical models describing processes and physical phenomena in this space that accompany the formation of stars. I then implement these models in cosmological simulations, which I use to reproduce the evolution of galaxies over a million years. Thanks to these simulations, we can find out what our universe once looked like, what physical processes are responsible for its current state and how it will look in the future – explains the scientist to us. Zuzanna Kocjan emphasizes that he is very afraid of changes in educational programs, because, as Fulbright says, it is not only a source of financing. It is a community of people with passion, which combines openness to the world and great interest in science.
– This program allows you to establish international cooperation and allows you to gain experience abroad for scientists for whom this would be very difficult. The cessation of financing a scholarship would be a huge loss for the world of science and would affect both foreign scientists and those in the US who cooperate with scholarship holders – he states.
About Fulbright: I caught God by my legs
The graduate of Fulbright is Joanna Stempień. She is a TVN24 BIS reporter, but also a speech therapist, a PhD student at a doctoral school of the University of Warsaw.
– I deal with feminizing voice techniques in transgender women and sexually diverse people – Joanna Stempień describes us. In August 2024, she began a scientific research at George Washington University as part of Fulbright. It lasted six months.
– I applied to the program in the spring of 2023. The recruitment process is a huge stress and effort. A revolution is a stay in the USA, which requires adaptation in family and professional life. Therefore, information that subsidies for this program are partly frozen by administrations Donald Trump He causes fear among Fulbright – he says.
As he explains, scholarship holders are accepted from over a hundred countries. International cooperation is coordinated by the US Department of State Department of the US (Institute of International Education).
– They take care of the scholarship holders who come to the States. Each of them has their own guardian. Funds for the functioning of this unit are frozen, two hundred people have recently been sent on forced vacation. Therefore, some scholarship holders have been notified since January that it is not known how much money they will receive from the scholarship. Similar messages began to receive Americans who come at their research programs, for example in Malaysia or Kazakhstan – says Joanna Stempień.
According to AP, there are thousands of scientists in a difficult situation. In the Fulbright Association cited by the Fulbright Association agency, the suspected financing has an impact on over 12.5 thousand. American scholarship holders currently abroad and 7.4 thous. people who came to the USA on a scholarship.
In what situation are Fulbrighters today? – We ask Joanna Stempień. – You have to imagine that you write in English a giant research project, methodological and theoretical justification. Before submitting the application, I had to find a lecturer at an American university who will deal with my project, he will support him. I had to get a certificate that a university would accept me. So this is a huge machine, effort, and today it is not certain whether the scholarship holders who went through a sieve have moved with their families to the States or other countries, they will be able to pay their bills – he replies.
And shows another problem. He explains that during a scholarship you have a limited number of days that can be spent outside the United States. – This limit in my case was 30 days. I used 14 days because I came to Poland for Christmas for two weeks. Now scholarship holders are writing to each other so as not to go beyond the United States, because they are afraid that they will not be allowed. Although they have documents allowing entry and legal stay, they are afraid that after leaving home they will not be able to return to the USA – explains our interlocutor.
– This is a terrible loss and it's a pity if the international exchange was frozen. It is very sad, disappointing, because when I got into this scholarship, I thought I caught God by my legs and that I was waiting for the adventure of life – says Joanna Stempień.
She worked at George Washington University with Professor Adrienne B. Hancock, who considers the best expert in voice feminization in the United States. – conducts classes in a creative way. He has a missionary approach to sharing knowledge, and in the academic world is rare. There is a sharp competition here, for publications, prestige, for grades, and prof. Hancock believes that supporting a scientist from Poland and LGBTQ+ people is her moral duty. That is why the waste of such international cooperation would be a huge loss – says Joanna Stempień.
“Retains liquidity of financing”
The editors of TVN24.pl contacted the Polish-American Fulbright Commission. Ewa Czarnojan, executive director, told us that the recruitment for scholarships for Polish citizens for the academic year 2026-27 was opened in February this year.
“The Commission works unchanged and we conduct our activities as planned” – she noted in response to our questions.
She indicated that the problem concerns scholarship holders who receive funds directly from Iie. “It does not touch scholarship holders from countries or going to the country where bilateral committees operate, as in Poland,” emphasized the director of the Polish -American Fulbright Commission.
She added that she maintains the liquidity of financing. “We are financed from two sources – from the budget of the American and Polish budget – subsidies of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, and the payments of scholarships take place in accordance with the graphic designer adopted in contracts” – he explains.
Ewa Czarnojan clarified that “scholarships have a very different amount, which depends on many factors. The amount depends on the length of the stay and the destination of the scholarship implementation, and whether the scholarship holder goes alone or with the family. The scholarship consists of a monthly amount to cover the costs of maintenance, covering university costs, research and conference additives, due to the multitude of factors affect The height of the scholarships, the range of amounts is very high. “
Do you want to share an important topic? Contact the author of the text: joanna.rubin@wbd.com
Source of the main photo: Shutterstock