Since its founding in 1920 by President Herbert Hoover, the B.A.E.F. has granted Fellowships to 4,453 Belgians and 1082 Americans for advanced study or research in the partner country.
The program of B.A.E.F. Fellowships for the academic year 2026-2027 comprises 109 new individuals, including 94 Belgian Fellows to study or perform research in the United States, and 14 American Fellows to study or perform research in Belgium, in all academic fields.
The main objective of the B.A.E.F. has always been to help young talented students to study towards a Master degree or PhD at a top US university. Among the Belgian Fellows who are departing, we count 6 bachelor students who will be studying towards an initial Master degree, 12 graduate students for an advanced Master degree, 19 LL.M. Fellows and 5 MBA Fellows.
This year we also count 7 young talented Master researchers who decided to take a gap year to conduct research before pursuing their master degree. They are remarkable bachelor students who join top US universities: such as Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Yale Medical school and UC Berkeley.
Additionally, 27 post-doctoral researchers and 4 doctoral researchers secured a research fellowship from the BAEF in order to finance a research stay at the best known US university labs or research centres. Often a longtime collaboration between the two institutions will start from there.
The Music Selection Committee, under the chairmanship Gilles Ledure, Director General of Flagey, recommended 2 Music Fellows 2026.
Honorary Fellowships for 2026-2027 were granted to 2 individuals, who secured financial support outside the B.A.E.F.
Finally from the boat 2025, 4 initial Master students and 4 MBA students will be supported for a second year of study during 2026-2027.
The Fellowship Committee, that interviews all Belgian candidates personally, selects the Fellows competitively from a pool of brilliant applicants. The fellowship awards comprise a stipend ranging from $22,000.00 to $55,000.00, the payment of tuition fees varying between $50,000.00 to $ 72 000 for the 2-years Master Fellowship.
Among the Americans Fellows, a surprisingly higher number of candidacies were received. Among the 14 American Fellows we count 3 graduate students, 1 PhD student on Heritage studies at UAntwerpen, 3 doctoral researchers, 4 postdoctoral researchers, 2 musicians – a violinist and a cellist – at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and 1 carillonist.
We wish the new “Boat” of Belgian Fellows a prosperous journey and a fruitful stay in the United States. As for the 14 American Fellows, an interesting and enriching stay in Belgium.
