Ta kontakt med en Fulbrighter!

I attended University of Southern California in the spring of 2022 as part of my master’s degree in music performance, and had an amazing stay. Part of my motivation to apply was to truly experience a country and culture that in many ways is close and known to us but at the same time hard to understand. I was there during a quite turbulent time politically, and it was extremely interesting to be part of the conversations “on site” rather than from the other side of the world. The music field is very international, so I was surprised to learn how many things were different, and it’s enriching for me to now know both European an American perspectives. As a conservatory student in Norway I particularly enjoyed being part of a big university, and having a greater variety of classes than I’m used to. Everyone I met, from students to professors where open and friendly. I made lasting friendship and made music with some amazing people. After my studies I was able to do a fantastic post academic training program, which enabled me to stay in California for the whole summer, and made my Fulbright experience even more memorable. This year has been one of the most important in my life, and I returned to Norway with new skils, perspectives and a much greater understanding of US culture.

Jeg fikk muligheten til å være Fulbrighter og gjesteforsker ved UC Berkeley våren 2021 som del av sisteåret av doktorgraden min ved NTNU. Det var et utrolig givende opphold akademisk så vel som kulturelt, ved et flott universitet i et fantastisk område, og en opplevelse som har gitt meg nye ideer, erfaringer og bekjentskaper som har bidratt til både faglig og personlig utvikling. Ta gjerne kontakt om jeg kan være til hjelp!

Året 2019/2020 tok jeg fjerdeåret av min mastergrad i Datateknologi ved UC Berkeley. Her fikk jeg oppleve en god kombinasjon av et sterkt faglig miljø og det typiske amerikanske studentlivet med frat-parties og fotballkamper. UC Berkeley var et fantastisk universitet med spennende faglige muligheter, og jeg fikk for første gang bryne meg på litt forskning. I tillegg er området Berkeley ligger i utrolig sjarmerende med mange kulturelle aspekter. En av fordelene er blant annet at det ligger i nærheten av for eksempel San Fransisco og Napa Valley som er spennende reisemål.

My stay in the US was definitely my best year so far, academically and personally. First of all, San Diego was a city of great people, weather and exciting activites. I learned to surf and was enthralled by the local surfing community. The friendliness, helpfulness and tolerance I experienced there is definitely something I will bring on to my community back home. I met a so many interesting people with different backgrounds and got the time to actually get to know them. I also spent a large portion of my stay travelling around the US, visiting Hawaii, San Fransisco, Las Vegas and Yosemite. As a stereotypical Norwegian, I love the outdoors, and it was immensly valuable to experience the american outdoors-culture and learn how they strive to protect their beautiful nature while also giving people the chance to experience it.

Jeg utvekslet fra Universitetet i Tromsø til USA som del av min mastergrad i romfysikk, og tok relevante fag der i ett år ved University of Hawaii at Hilo. I forkant av studiestart i august deltok jeg også på et Gateway seminar i regi av Fulbright, og der fikk jeg en god velkomst til USA og jeg fikk møte andre Fulbright stipendiater fra hele verden. Jeg reiste alene, og hadde veldig gode erfaringer både faglig og sosialt under oppholdet. 

What is it to be a Fulbrighter? I thought I had an idea before I left Norway, with my husband and four children. But, after living in Urbana, Illinois in 6 months, I have felt what it can be. To be a Fulbrighter, mother and academic in a different culture has been challenging, eye opening and redeeming. I was so lucky to be embraced by people at the faculty in the Music ed department I came to visit. Not as an observer, an outsider- but as part of the community. Observing and experiencing from within. It made
me listen differently. To the topic I wanted to explore in my PhD, female voice change, but also to cultures, contexts and how students negotiate their voices with higher music education. My research stay has made me see and open up new possibilities, with other researchers and communities. Experiencing being a Fulbrighter during a changing world, a world where we should not take anything for granted, I have learned that we need to listen and to hear more. There are always voices seldom heard. Seeing that from the position of being an academic and mother, gave me a different and more diverse understanding of what knowledge in education and research is and can be.

Seks måneder i Chicago er ikke nok til å utforske alt man har lyst til, men jeg hadde en utrolig herlig tid likevel. Fantastisk campus med flotte kollegaer, og en historisk by med mange unike tilbud. Noen av mine favorittter var blues- og jazzklubber, Lake Michigan, og selvfølgelig “deep dish” pizza. I tillegg kan man nå ikoniske steder som Detroit og Niagara Falls (bildet) med en lang kjøretur. Høydepunktet var likevel det sosiale samholdet mellom Fulbrightstudenter fra hele verden som holdt til ved flere av universitetene i byen. Bare husk å ta med stillongs hvis du reiser på vinteren!

We spent the academic year 2019-2020 in Maryland, with our three kids, Olaf (14), Mari (12) and Greta (8). We were both visiting scholars at the Center for International Development and Conflict management (CIDCM), where Håvard was studying ceasefires and Gudrun was conducting research on the relationship between conflict, forced displacement and education. Our stay turned out very differently than we had imagined in many ways, especially due to the lockdown and school closures in the spring, but we had a great adventure nonetheless. We were lucky enough to live in a fantastic neighborhood in Takoma Park and are very happy we decided to stay throughout the full period and not return to Norway when the pandemic hit. Both we and the kids learned a lot and we made great friends.

Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions!

I had heard a lot about Baltimore before I arrived, but I didn’t expect to fall in love with this city. It’s certainly a bit rough around the edges, but the people are so friendly and open and there are a range of cultural and social activities and some world-class museums. The food is very good and the city is affordable. I highly recommend the city, but I would encourage all Fulbrighters to explore the city’s conflicting history: Read some books, go for walks, visit the museums. It will make the experience and the stay so much richer.

I spent five months as a Vistiting Researcher at Harvard Law School to work on my dissertation on constitutional law, and had a great time in the vibrant, inter-disciplinary and intellectually curious academic environment that is Harvard Law School. Academically, I got guidance from my academic supervisor, Professor Vicki C. Jackson, on what to research to meet my academic goals. I had access to the world’s largest law library, both in terms of physical and electronic volumes, according to the very helpful HLS Library staff. I learned a lot from auditing classes with American JD students, international LLM students and other Visiting Researchers, and beyond my narrow academic interests there were lively debates about the future of US Constitutional Law basically everywhere. While Cambridge is pretty much a liberal bubble, the Law School has a contingency of the powerful conservative organization The Federalist Society, which paves the way for Republican nominations for federal judge. While American academia is decidedly more politicized than back home, with demonstrations, walk-outs and fellowships being denied for political opinions, the lively character of it makes for new insights, in the classroom or at the bar, accompanied by new friendships.

I came to MIT in pursuit of learning state of the art technologies and research techniques, and I am happy to share that this goal was met. It is no secret that MIT harbors world-leading experts in their respective fields, and it has been nothing short of inspiring working together with these professors and students.

However, while being the primary motivation for coming to MIT, this is not the reason I will miss my time in Boston. Instead, it is the people that I remember most fondly. Through my research and extra-curricular participation, I have engaged with people from all over the world, and I am glad to now call many of them my friends. These are friendships that I look forward to nurturing even after our studies, through future visits and travels together. Without my stay in the U.S., which was completely enabled by the Fulbright program, I would never have met these wonderful people.

I arrived in the US in august of 2019 for a two-year MBA at Harvard Business School. The first semester was a whirlwind rollercoaster, getting used to the intense academic program, meeting what felt like hundreds of new and interesting people, and continuing to figure out my career goals. But in March of 2020 the whole world went on pause, and my experience rapidly changed completely. Just as I was settling in to life in the US, a full social and academic calendar was exchanged for virtual classes and isolation at home with my girlfriend. After completing my first year, the realization that COVID would severely limit my experience made me decide to take a break from my program. I worked elsewhere for a semester and then rejoined the program in January 2021. The rest of my experience was a hybrid blend of in-person and virtual classes and seminars. I was still able to build a multitude of friendships with people from all around the world, travel to almost ten different states, and have an amazing learning experience. Living in the US enriched my life in so many ways, and I also got to see both similarities and differences of our societies up close, which was especially interesting in a period of so much social, medical and economic turmoil.

Jeg er Fulbright forsker i Boston i ett år fra August 2021. Jeg jobber innen kreftforskning og er tilknyttet både Dana-Farber Cancer Institute og Broad. Forskningsmiljøet i Boston er åpent og inkluderende og det er stor interesse for å knytte nye samarbeid. Her har man tilgang til en rekke seminarer, kurs og forelesninger der det ofte presenteres upubliserte data. Det er veldig inspirerende å diskutere nye sider av forskningsprosjekter med forskere fra svært ulike bakgrunner som har reist til Boston for å lære. I tillegg er gevinsten av å være her selv stor, også når det gjelder å få tilgang til nyutviklede metoder og kanskje spesielt for å knytte kontakt med yngre forskere, som ofte er de som har «hands-on» erfaring. Boston er en fantastisk by å bo i! Jeg har også to ungdommer som går på high school her og kan hjelpe med tips om skole, idrett, lege, bosted (vi måtte leie usett fra Norge pga av Covid og benyttet megler) eller andre praktiske spørsmål.  

My stay in the US, albeit short, has given me so many new experiences, and has definitely given me new perspectives not only on American society, but on a lot of other international societies as well. While mainly focusing on my academics through the semester, I was still able to connect with a few people during my stay. I stayed at an on-campus all-graduate dormitory with a lot of international students, meaning that there were plenty of opportunities for short conversations over a snack with people from all over the world. This opened my eyes to a lot of issues different parts of the world face, many of which I had previously been unaware of. At the same time, it was amazing to see how alike we all were. After the end of the semester, I had the opportunity of traveling across the US. During these travels, I got the chance of staying a few nights with a couple of different American families, once again enabling me to have these meaningful in-depth conversations about the American way of life and the specifics of American politics. The months I have spent in the US has not only advanced my academic insights, but has broadened my knowledge of American and international societies in general.

I had a great stay in the US! The semester was short and intense, but also fun and rewarding. Being at MIT, surrounded by highly motivated fellow students, world-leading researchers and great lecturers, was very inspiring. It was fantastic to be in that environment, and I feel that I have developed a lot, both academically and personally. After the semester, I went on a round-trip in the US with a friend in the same program, which was very fun.

Jeg var Fulbright-stipendiat ved sykehuset Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center og Harvard Medical School, og bodde i Brookline, Boston. Der fant jeg et verdensledende medisinsk forskningsmiljø som inspirerte meg, utfordret meg og ikke minst engasjerte meg. Faglige diskusjoner med noen av de beste hodene i verden og nye bekjentskaper som gir muligheter for forskningssamarbeid senere, har vært et privilegium. Samtidig var det utfordrende å flytte til et nytt land og finne rytmen i en ny by, midt i en pandemi hvor det meste var uoversiktlig og uforutsigbart. Ta gjerne kontakt med meg om du har spørsmål eller søker råd.  

Fulbright-oppholdet på Harvard var uten tvil den beste delen av mitt doktorgradsarbeid. Jeg var bekymret for å dra året jeg skulle levere min avhandling, men det å være utenlands viste seg å være den beste måten å fullføre arbeidet på. Jeg anbefaler alle, tross bekymringer om praktiske utfordringer, å reise. Fulbright, med-fulbrighetere og alumni står klare til å gjøre reisen så behagelig som mulig. Ta gjerne kontakt om du tror jeg kan være til hjelp.

My stay in New York City as part of Master’s degree at Columbia has been amazing, and I am sure will remain an experience I will never forget and will continuously look back at for guiding me in my future endeavors. It truly felt like having the whole world at one place, both through the highly international student body present at the university as well as the general local population of the city itself. Every corner felt like its own small country, and I continuously found myself in awe of the diversity of the city. What is particularly nice about the American education system at university level is the emphasis upon discussions and participation in class, as well as the eye with which one can reach out the a professor with almost any matter – it was a full-time student experience, in the best way possible!

Haakon gjennomførte en to-årig Master of International Affairs-grad ved Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs i New York hvor han fokuserte på cybersikkerhet og teknologi. Til tross for en pandemi og et litt for spennende valgår ble oppholdet i USA svært givende både faglig og sosialt. Ta gjerne kontakt hvis du har spørsmål om alt fra valg av skole innen international affairs/public policy, Columbia University, eller hvordan det er å studere i New York. 

Sudan Prasad Neupane var Fulbright Scholar ved Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill i 2018 – 2019. Han er utdannet lege og har en mastergrad i internasjonale helse og PhD i psykonevroimmunologi og rus- og avhengighetsmedisin fra UiO. Neupane forsker på nevroimmunologiske mekanismer bak komorbide psykiske og somatiske lidelser ved Nasjonalt senter for selvmordsforskning og -forebygging, UiO og ved Tannhelsetjenestens kompetansesenter – Rogaland.

Seks måneder ved UNC i Chapel Hill i North-Carolina var mye faglig påfyll, en veldig annerledes måte å være akademiker på, og ellers mye av det USA har å by på: Store biler, hamburgere, BLM, college-sport, og mye fine, interessante, dyktige, artige og rare folk.

I loved my stay in Philadelphia! The scientific community at Wharton was great – I felt welcome and supported throughout my entire stay. The stay helped me improve my research project, and I believe it has been an asset to my academic career. As I believe that career is not everything, I have also put effort into making American friends while in Philly. Through a Facebook group, my roommate, and fellow grad students, I have accumulated an amazing group of friends. I will miss them dearly when I return.
After work, I have shared many meals with friend. Whether it was weekly dinners, trying a new Philly restaurant each week, birthday dinners, Thanksgiving with my roommate’s family, the true American Halloween experience, or Christmas Markets, I have always felt included. My new friends have taken me on numerous adventures, such as camping trips, hiking, biking, rock climbing, and trips to the beach at Cape May. I got to visit a National Park during peak fall foliage, and visited a number of the East Coast cities (and small towns). These memories and experiences will stay with me.

Høsten 2019 tilbrakte jeg fire måneder som Fulbrighter ved The University of Texas at Austin. Som stipendiat i geofysikk tilknyttet Universitetet i Bergen fikk jeg gjennom oppholdet mitt i USA svært mange faglige impulser og muligheten til å etablere samarbeid med et internasjonalt nettverk av forskere og andre stipendiater. Oppholdet mitt i USA har vært uvurderlig for doktorgradsarbeidet mitt, og jeg kan på det sterkeste anbefale The University of Texas at Austin som vertsinstitusjon. Familien min var med første del av oppholdet, men dro hjem tre måneder før jeg gjorde det.

My stay in the US opened me to new minds and cultures. I went through a uniquely shared history and knowledge with many people from different cultural and scientific background during my stay. I met several other Fulbrighter in Austin and I established several long term collaborations with other scientist at UT Austin as well as other Fulbrighters. Although I had limited option due to the pandemic, I managed to do some social activities by following CDC recommendations: I have visited several places in Texas: The Alamo, where I learnt how Texans fighting for independence from Mexico. Enchanted rock, a pink granite mountain, where shows different colors in nature, and the Colorado River, flows right through the heart of Austin, makes this city unforgettable.