The main focus of this unique Fulbright
Program is to give U.S. students the opportunity to acquire professional
experience by working for a company or an NGO in Mexico. In addition, this
program allows grantees to take some graduate courses (a minimum of 3 and a
maximum of 6 over the course of the program) in academic areas such as
business, finance, international trade, and comparative-law among others, to
supplement their work experience). The Fulbright-García Robles grantees work
as interns five days a week in their assigned companies, and attend
university in the evening: one to three days per week. Refer to the program
in your Statement of Proposed Study and list under Special Programs on the
Fulbright application.
Application must be submitted
through IIE or the applicant’s U.S. college or university. More information
can be obtained by visiting www.iie.org or contacting IIE Program Manager,
Jody Dudderar, (212) 984-5565, jdudderar@iie.org. Please note that this
award is referred to as the “Fulbright/Garcia Robles Grant” on IIE’s
website.”
General Information:
Language:
Excellent spoken
and written Spanish is required at the time of application.
Academic Year:
September through
June. 10 months. Academic year.
Applicants:
Applicants with a
bachelor’s in business administration, finance, economics, international
relations, engineering, or accounting, or some other business-related
field and some work experience are preferred. Candidates with graduate
studies will also be considered. Candidates with a bachelor’s degree in
other fields but with a demonstrated interest in business will also be
considered.
Significant work experience in a business environment is strongly
recommended for these candidates and for candidates who do not have a
business-related degree.
Grant Benefits:
Applicants should
take into consideration that this Fulbright grant will cover basic
living expenses in either Mexico or Monterrey. One round- trip ticket
(U.S.-Mexico-U.S.) will be covered. Grantees may incur additional costs
related to working in a business environment that are not covered by the
grant.
Statement of proposed study:
Instead of a research proposal, the following three points should be
addressed: 1) Areas where the applicant could benefit from and make the
best contribution to a Mexico-based company conducting international
business; 2) Aspects of the applicant’s academic background (coursework,
workshops, special courses, etc). and professional experience (specific
jobs and assignments) that would allow the applicant to benefit from the
experience and contribute to a company during the internship and in the
classroom; 3) Expected benefits from the internship and courses and
their relationship to the applicant’s future career plans. In mid
February 2010, COMEXUS will conduct telephone interviews in Spanish with
recommended candidates prior to final selection.
Affiliation
and Placement:
Following final selection, the Commission will arrange the placement of
grantees through trilateral matching involving participating companies,
grantees and the Commission. In this process, grantees and companies
express their three best placement options in order of preference.
Grantees in Mexico City will attend courses at the Instituto Tecnologico
Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) or the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios
Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) Campus Santa Fe while those grantees
located in the City of Monterrey will be placed at the ITESM.
In the three two years, COMEXUS has placed grantees in the following
companies: Ashoka, Banamex, Banorte, Endeavor, Fondo Unido, Grupo BAL,
NAFTA Fund, New Ventures, Procter & Gamble, Prudential Real Estate
Investors, Rothschild Bank, Scotiabank, and Volaris among others. Please
note that the list of participating companies and NGOs is subject to
change every year. While the majority of placements are with for-profit
companies, each year there are usually opportunities to work in the
non-profit sector as well.
Tuition:
University fees are covered by the grant.
Strucure of Grant:
The Binational Business Grant is structured to
provide grantees with business, academic, and cultural experiences in
Mexico. This tripartite structure achieves the Binational Business
Program’s goals of fostering mutual understanding and respect, the
exchange of culture and ideas, and the building of interpersonal
relationships between future Mexican and U.S. business and political
leaders. In addition to their internships and coursework, grantees are
invited to participate in cultural activities and events organized by
the Commission, thus ensuring that the grantees have sufficient
opportunities to expand their knowledge of Mexico beyond the office and
the classroom.
In terms of the professional benefits of the program, those grantees
with only undergraduate degrees have been able to obtain business
placements that give them levels of responsibility that they might not
be able to get in the U.S. These grantees frequently place primary
emphasis on their work placements, and often end the Fulbright grant
year with offers of full-time employment (either in Mexico or at the
U.S. or European office of the firm). Similarly, grantees without
graduate degrees who would like to go on to higher study have had
success in being accepted to the most competitive U.S. business and law
schools. Grantees with graduate degrees have been able to obtain
educational and work experiences which complement their formal education,
enabling them to achieve a competitive advantage in the business world
upon the completion of the program.
The following is
applicable to all grants.
See
flyer and testimony of a former Fulbrighter
here.
Research clearance and visa
requirements:
For all awards, candidates must have an FM-3 visa before entering the
country under a Fulbright-Garcia Robles scholarship. COMEXUS will
process the FM-3 visa for the grantees prior to their arrival in
Mexico. Those candidates possessing dual U.S. and Mexican nationality
are required by Mexican law to enter Mexico on their Mexican passport
and will not receive an FM-3 visa.
Dependents:
Grants are increased by US$150 per
month for grantees with one accompanying dependent and by US$250 for two
or more dependents.
jmendiola@comexus.org.mx
Program Officer for US Programs
Berlín 18, 2o Piso., Col. Juárez, México D.F., 06600
+52-55-5592-2861
Any potential applicants can contact Comexus
For more information on all other grant programs for US citizens contact
COMEXUS
jmendiola@comexus.org.mx
Agradecemos el apoyo de estas instituciones para con el
programa:
