An exceptional opportunity to explore the potential of creativity, scientific inquiry and heritage preservation through unique research collaborations, Irish postgraduate students Sally McHugh and David Stone have been announced as the very first Fulbright-Creative Ireland Fellows.

Each year the Fulbright Programme sees students, academics and professionals from Ireland and Europe attend 33 leading US institutions to study and collaborate with experts in their fields. In Ireland, the prestigious Fulbright Programme has been pivotal in transatlantic collaborative research for more than 60 years.

The establishment of the Fulbright-Creative Ireland Fellowship – short-term research fellowships for Irish postgraduate students at three of the United States’ top museums – is a hugely exciting opportunity for its inaugural fellows. The funding has been made available under the Creative Ireland Programme in a joint collaboration with the Fulbright Commission.

Beginning in the 2018-19 academic year and taking place for four years in total, the chosen research projects must demonstrate a commitment to innovation and creativity, and also include considerable community engagement.

NUI Galway’s Sally McHugh will undertake the fellowship in The Exploratorium: The Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception in San Francisco. With a BA in Archaeology & Information Technology and an MA in Digital Media, as a Fulbright-Creative Ireland Museum Fellow, Sally will conduct a place-based learning project within The Exploratorium’s Fisher Bay Observatory. Her project, ‘A Sense of Place’, will focus on how the city’s youth engage with all things ‘local’, encompassing both cultural and natural heritage.

UCD’s David Stone is Fulbright-Creative Ireland Museum Fellow to The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. A second-year Government of Ireland Irish Research Council doctoral scholar at the School of Archaeology, UCD, David also holds a BA and an MSt in Archaeology. His research explores 6th-15th century archaeobotanical material from excavations in Azerbaijan. During the fellowship, David will conduct research at The Smithsonian’s Department of Anthropology and will utilise techniques used in leading international museums for the curation and digital archiving of archaeobotanical remains.

With Ireland’s global reputation an important facet in the Creative Ireland Programme, the Fulbright-Creative Ireland Fellowship boasts the potential to facilitate exciting, new creative networks and lets the chosen fellows explore first-hand, how other nations research, understand and preserve in various fields. The work both Sally and David will undertake can further strengthen US-Irish bonds for future creative and innovation collaborations.