Sarah Berger is a developmental 
scientist. Based at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island, she spent six months last academic year at the Humanoid Lab of the Czech Technical University in Prague, using AI and video analysis to explore how babies learn to move, develop awareness of their own bodies, and how technology can help detect early movement-related conditions. But Sarah’s Fulbright experience was about more than research. Two months after returning home, she reflects on an international adventure shared with her husband and son, who accompanied her to the Czech Republic. For scholars wondering whether to bring their children along on a Fulbright grant, Sarah’s message is clear: "Bring them. The program welcomed our family at every turn, from orientation to concerts. Jordy's semester became as much a part of the exchange as my research."
Six months, three of us, one city
On New Year's Day 2026, my husband Roy, our 11-year-old son Jordy, and I said good-bye to Brooklyn and headed for Prague. I was starting a six-month Fulbright research fellowship. Jordy, then in sixth grade, was about to start a new school in a new country.
We arrived to an inch of fresh snow and a traditional Czech dinner. We had the weekend to get settled into our apartment in Holešovice before I started work at my host lab, Roy joined his colleague, and Jordy started school.
On New Year's Day 2026, my husband Roy, our 11-year-old son Jordy, and I said good-bye to Brooklyn and headed for Prague. I was starting a six-month Fulbright research fellowship. Jordy, then in sixth grade, was about to start a new school in a new country.
We arrived to an inch of fresh snow and a traditional Czech dinner. We had the weekend to get settled into our apartment in Holešovice before I started work at my host lab, Roy joined his colleague, and Jordy started school.
The work: one lab, four countries
My home base was the Humanoid lab at Czech Technical University in Prague. I am a developmental scientist, so my Fulbright project was truly interdisciplinary, which I felt was an obvious metaphor for Fulbright’s mission of bridging communities and cultures. My lab-mates made sure I saw life outside the office: cross-country skiing near the Polish and German borders, a Sparta Prague hockey game, and a May Day weekend at my host's summer cottage (family included).
The fellowship also opened doors to Czech academic audiences I would never have met otherwise:
- Czech Society for Cognitive Science, Charles University (February). The students' questions were sharp, and the conversation continued at the pub afterward.
- Invited Keynote, Cognition and Artificial Life 2026 (May). The conference met at the castle in Třešť, now a conference center of the Czech Academy of Sciences. This year it honored Ivan M. Havel, a founder of Czech cognitive science. When asked if he was the President's brother, Havel liked to reply, "No, he is my brother."
The Fulbright community
The Czech Fulbright Commission gave us an official start that set the tone for everything after. Orientation for new arrivals doubled as a midyear conference for grantees already in the country. It was held in Telč, a UNESCO-listed town on the Bohemian-Moravian border. We heard from fellow scholars about their work, met the US Embassy's counselor for public affairs and cultural attaché, and listened to a keynote by Miloš Vystrčil, President of the Czech Senate. Families were welcome too: Jordy performed a magic trick in the talent show.
The commission took excellent care of us all semester. Highlights included private tours of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Radio Free Europe headquarters, and the U.S. Ambassador’s residence. In April, the commission invited me to meet with the Chief of Staff of the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Victoria Roberts, to talk about what Fulbright exchanges make possible, for the field and for me personally.
Our program officer, Kateřina, also pointed us to one of our most meaningful activities. We joined the Czech scouts (Junák – český skaut) to make candles for Ukraine out of tin cans and cardboard and to weave camouflage nets. The candles provide light, heat, and a way to cook where the power grid has been destroyed. Working side by side with Czech families, we participated in the country's civic life.
A school year abroad
Jordy's first day at a British international school in Prague came four days after we landed. The school has houses, uniforms, and tutors, so for a sixth grader from Brooklyn it was as close to Hogwarts as he was going to get. Of course, Jordy missed his friends at home, but he treated the whole semester as an adventure, including a school trip to Italy and volunteering regularly with the school at a soup kitchen. Jordy learning that he can thrive and contribute under challenging circumstances was worth any initial trepidation.
Jordy's first day at a British international school in Prague came four days after we landed. The school has houses, uniforms, and tutors, so for a sixth grader from Brooklyn it was as close to Hogwarts as he was going to get. Of course, Jordy missed his friends at home, but he treated the whole semester as an adventure, including a school trip to Italy and volunteering regularly with the school at a soup kitchen. Jordy learning that he can thrive and contribute under challenging circumstances was worth any initial trepidation.
Living in Prague
We lived in Holešovice, between two gorgeous parks: one block from Stromovka, the former royal hunting grounds where I jogged most mornings, and Letná with the famous beer garden overlooking the river.
We tried to take advantage of as many opportunities as we could. Some of the highlights were:
- Czech traditions. Masopust, the Czech carnival, at the National Museum of Agriculture. Easter markets, where craftsmen braided the willow whips boys carry on Easter Monday. The Primátorky rowing race on the Vltava, with a koláč in hand. Farmers' markets on the riverbank that signal the start of spring.
- Art and architecture. Czech Cubism at Museum Kampa and the National Gallery's Trade Fair Palace. The Museum of Decorative Arts and the Czech Museum of Music. The art nouveau Municipal House and the baroque libraries of the Klementinum and Strahov. Open House Prague, which let us into buildings with surprising histories.
History underfoot
The thread that ran through our whole stay was Jewish history. Next door to our apartment were Stolpersteine, small brass "stumbling stones" set into the pavement. Each marks the last home of someone deported by the Nazis. We passed them every day on the way to the tram.
We visited the Jewish Museum in Prague, including the Pinkas Synagogue, whose walls carry the names of nearly 80,000 Jewish victims from Bohemia and Moravia. We spent a day at Terezín with a knowledgeable, sensitive guide. The museum's exhibit on the art made in the ghetto stayed with us. In Plzeň we toured the Great Synagogue, one of the largest in the world, restored in the 1990s and still holding services.
History surfaced in unexpected places too. During Open House Prague, a tour of a landmarked mid-century hotel in our neighborhood revealed that the site had once been a market. During the war, Jews were held there before deportation to Terezín from the nearby station.
There is also Jewish life in Prague today. We celebrated Passover at a community seder at the Prague Jewish Community Centre with about 130 people, moving between Hebrew and Czech-English haggadot. For Purim, we improvised with traditional Bohemian gingerbread pastries. Our older son, Noah, joined us in June to work on a project on the Golem myth. Coming from a city where modern Jewish life is all around us, it was striking how much of Prague’s Jewish story is now told through memorials.
What we brought home
We returned to Brooklyn in early July, bringing with us new collaborators in four countries, a kid who knows he can thrive somewhere unfamiliar, and a much closer feel for Central European history and its current relevance.
For scholars weighing a Fulbright with children, here is what I would pass on:
- Bring them. The program welcomed our family at every turn, from orientation to concerts. Jordy's semester became as much a part of the exchange as my research.
- Use the travel support. The inter-country visits to Denmark and the UK were among the most productive weeks of my sabbatical.
- Lean on your commission. Our program officer's suggestions led to some of the most meaningful experiences we had.
- Say yes to the small invitations. A colleague's cottage, a neighborhood festival, a scout volunteer day: that is where the cultural exchange really happens.