This week, Lisbon feels a little more full of possibility… From September 30 to October 2, the 2026/2027 cohort of U.S. Fulbright grantees is gathering for Orientation, and I could not be happier to welcome them.
In the year the Fulbright Program celebrates its 80th Anniversary, the 15 grantees who are now starting their projects show why a program born in 1946 still feels so vibrant.
What strikes me first about this group is how far they have traveled, and from how many different places. Our grantees come from thirteen U.S. states, from Rhode Island to Oklahoma and from Wisconsin to Florida, and no two share a home institution. Their campuses range from MIT, Brown and Yale to Ohio State, Marquette and Holy Cross.
Their destinations are just as diverse. They will be spread across eleven host communities, from Porto and Guimarães in the north to Funchal in Madeira, and from the Azorean islands of São Miguel and Faial to Portalegre, in the Alentejo. I love the idea of Fulbright stories unfolding in a lab in Guimarães, a classroom in Aveiro or Leiria, a research vessel off Horta, or an archive in Lisbon, all in the same year.
Their fields of study range from biomedical engineering, history and literature to biology, political science and computer science, and the cohort includes five English Teaching Assistants. Together they will build the kind of everyday connections that make the Fulbright experience so meaningful.
This orientation would not be the same without the Fulbright alumni who generously gave us their knowledge, their time and their engagement. Thank you for sharing your experiences so openly, from the realities of academic life in Portugal to belonging, well-being and staying connected to Fulbright. Your stories show our new grantees what this experience can become, and your commitment to the Fulbright Portugal network long after your grants have ended is the best proof of what this program is about: community.
Thank you to each of our grantees for choosing Portugal, for the care you put into your applications, and for your readiness to listen, learn and share. You are ambassadors as well as researchers and educators, and I am confident you will leave a mark on the communities that welcome you, just as they will leave one on you.
To my colleagues at the Fulbright Commission, thank you for the dedication you always bring to the work we do together. We are also grateful to the U.S. Embassy team, who will brief our grantees today, the final day, and to the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, who will present the awards. Thank you also to our partners, whose support makes these grants possible: FLAD, Camões, I.P., the Regional Government of the Azores, FCT and the many Portuguese universities that host our Fulbrighters throughout the year.
Welcome to Portugal, Fulbrighters! We look forward to the good things the year ahead will bring, and we wish you a transformative and meaningful experience.