At the end of their stay in the U.S.,
Fulbright grantees are required to submit a Final Report where they
reflect on their experience. Here is an excerpt from these Final Reports
from the academic year 2012-13. The comments can be also
found in our
Annual Report.
Despite
the fact that Czech universities have changed dramatically after 1989,
Czech students still find U.S. universities well ahead in many aspects,
particularly the level of cooperation, networking, and student
motivation.
Martin Vraný studying philosophy at the University of
California – Berkeley in 2012/13 points to the main differences between
Czech and U.S. university milieu in his report:
“Interdisciplinary
cooperation, campus life, the amount of workload for each
lecture/seminar, the amount of extracurricular activities and hosted
lectures offered, the extent to which students identify themselves with
the university and last but not least, the fact that professors were
open-minded and helpful when discussing various issues with me despite
the fact that my original field of expertise is different.”
Kateřina
Váňová who dealt with biomedical research at Stanford University in
2012/13 praises the fact that her U.S. supervisor always found the time
to discuss her results and helped her set all experiments/project
design:
“The supporting background and my colleagues’ very positive
attitudes were very inspirational. As well, I appreciate their effort to
help me and settle in new environment. Very inspirational was the
post-doc network and student’s motivation that I miss at Czech
Universities.”
According to Helena Reichlová conducting research
in physics at the Ohio State University in 2012-13, the most
inspirational was
“the access to plenty of experimental setups and the will of my US colleagues to collaborate”.
Czech
students also appreciate changes in their perception of the world
during their Fulbright year. Petr Měšťánek who studied micromechanical
modelling of fatigue at Stanford University in 2012/13 says about his
stay:
“Meeting young people from all over the world was most beneficial
for my personality. This changed my 'European thinking' into 'global
thinking'. Two events contributed most to this: Gateway Orientation and
Enrichment Seminar. It was a privilege to take part in these events."
Czech Fulbright scholars always find their stay in the U.S. inspirational and enriching.
For
example, Jana Navrátilová, conducting research at the University of
North Carolina in 2012/13 points to the fact that in the U.S. the
university reacts immediately on the needs of industry:
“There is a
direct link between hospitals and universities. The business in US is
driven by industry, not by the government as in Czech Republic.”
Dr.
Vojtěch Melenovský pursuing his research project at the Mayo Clinic in
2012/13 was impressed by very patient-focused approach that drives all
aspects of organization of the hospital:
“The commitment to patient
satisfaction, quality and safety of care was far higher that I have ever
experienced in other medical centers in the US or Europe. I was also
surprised by very good peer-to-peer relationships and collegiality
between Mayo staff doctors who share the same amount of duties,
regardless of rank and seniority.”
As many other grantees Dr. Melenovký praised the fact that his family could accompany him during his Fulbright stay:
“It was very crucial experience for my teenage sons. They were exposed
to much higher load of schoolwork that w
as more focused (less subjects
studied) but more in-depth. Simultaneously, the teachers at Johns
Marshall High School in Rochester were very enthusiastic and motivating,
so children actually liked the school and received good grades. Son
Jakub was even was proclaimed as a “distinguished student of the
quarter” and passed AP exam in chemistry with 5A. Another positive
influence came from their friends and peers at school, who at the same
age had to lead much more responsible life, including living
independently or working and saving for college.”
Being
exposed to a U.S. university milieu for a couple of months is very
inspirational for future research and educational activities of
Fulbright-Masaryk grantees.
Dr. Tomáš Fürst conducting research at the Northwestern University in 2012/13 comments on that:
“One
of the main differences between the Czech and American academic
institutions is the general approach and attitude of the faculty toward
the students. The faculty at NU are much more open, helpful and
encouraging. Consequently, the students there are more motivated,
independent and mature. Some of the difference can be explained by the
tuition fee – the students want best quality service for their money –
but much of the difference has roots in the American attitude towards
work, responsibility, accountability and investment.”
Mr.
Ondřej Sedláček pursuing his research project at the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory in 2012-13 realizeshow important the good
presentation performance is:
“In the US, they put a lot of emphasis on
the quality of outcome results, mainly the quality of presentations and
publications, including the graphical aspect. I think this one of the
main differences between the scientific work at my home institute and in
the US.”
Mr. Karel Žďárek researching at The City
University of New York in 2012/13 states that it has shifted his focus
to connecting the university teaching (English didactics) with practical
aspects of teaching:
“I’ve realized how much our students lack
communication skills, how little two-way communication is happening in
our classrooms (both university and secondary schools) and how badly we
need to change that.”
Dr. Pavel Titz conducting research at the
University of Cincinnati in 2012/13 was struck bythe democratic
atmosphere at the department:
“Not only calling everybody with their
first name, but a real interest and helpfulness of the faculty towards
the students. The department worked as one body with one goal – high
professionalism. I have admired the level of support from the university
and the department for both, faculty and students. And the number of
different activities performed in the department – outreach, invited
lectures, practice talks, student teaching assistants to help professors
and learn from them, grad students teaching. It all attributes to
improve the skills and abilities of the alumni.”
Prof.
Kateřina Nedbálková who researched at the University of California -
Berkeley in 2012/2013appreciated a possibility to voice one’s opinion at
any opportunity:
“I found that striking even at my son’s kindergarten. I
perceive a big difference between Czech and American students in this
regard. Also the position of gender studies in academia is very
different at UC Berkeley. The studies seem much more incorporated and
institutionalized, taken for granted, a part of the university
curricula.”
Sometimes grantees come to the U.S. with ideas that
turn to be false during the scholarship. For example, Prof. Jiří Fiala
conducting research at the University of Oregon in 2012/13 points in his
final report:
“The long-term stay in the U.S. allowed me to demystify
the nation and disprove several cultural, organizational, academic and
educational preconceptions that I had before. These positive
acquaintances I would like to follow or implement after my return home.
Last, but not least, being a Fulbright-Masaryk fellow, I decided to get
more familiar with the life and philosophy of the first Czechoslovak
president, which I did during the first few months of my stay. This was
immensely inspiring.”
Fulbright-Masaryk grantees –
representatives of NGOs come to the U.S. with the aim to learn from and
transfer the best practices of U.S. non-profit sector which is
indisputably best developed worldwide.
Ms. Alexandra Jachanová
Doležalová affiliated with the Equality Now (New York) in 2012/13 was
most impressed by howthe organization practices its fundraising:
“The
organization works mainly with corporate and individual donors, an area
not developed in the Czech NGO sector at all.“ She was also volunteering
for an organization Women In Need focusing on giving support and
providing shelters to homeless women and families: “This work inspired
me to follow working on the issue in Prague and develop research as well
as supporting activities for homeless women in Prague and in the Czech
Republic.”
Ms. Marka Miková conducting research at UCSF Benioff
Children´s Hospital in San Francisco in 2012/13 appreciated the
efficiency with which new ideas can evolve within a few years into a
very good professional organization helping many people. Also, she
admired the commitment of people working for NGOs:
“They bring great and
new ideas and they serve the community; they do not expect to get lot
of money for their work. They are proud of their work, because they feel
they can enrich society and help solve problems in society”.
Establishing
new professional contacts is one of the key results of the scholarship.
Mr. David Ondráčka pursuing his project at the East Central European
Center of Columbia University in New York in 2012-13 notes in his
report:
“Amazing part of research was opportunity to meet and chat with
some high-profile academic individuals who are faculty members at
Columbia, like Joseph Stieglitz (Nobel award winner), Jeff Sachs, George
Papandreu (former prime-minister of Greece) or Jan Svejnar. That
provided me with lot of valuable food for thought and useful contacts
for my future career.”
Mr. Ondřej Stupal affiliated with the Residency
Unlimited in New York in 2012/13 enjoyed the inspiring, friendly and
professional atmosphere:
“Since the core of RU´s activities and
operations is based on a vast network of NYC-based organizations,
artists, and other art professionals, I gained a tremendous opportunity
to profit from it for the duration of my stay. These new connections
that the organization provided me proved to be priceless.”
