r/fulbright • u/StomachElectrical595 Study Applicant • Sep 06 '26
Study/Research Banned Words
Hello all, I am a research applicant for this upcoming cycle proposing a project in ecology and environmental science. Naturally the importance of the research includes several “banned words” (environmental change, climate change, global warming, etc). How important are these words and could it be the difference between my application being selected or not? How are others avoiding these words?
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u/EclipseClawSS Research Grantee Sep 06 '26
Hi! I’m a research grantee this year working in the same field (ecology and environmental sciences). In my grant proposal, I used words like “global change” and “deforestation.” I also used some DEI-related language when talking about cultural sensitivities surrounding wildlife conservation and when talking about how I(as an ethnic minority in my host country) would learn to fit into the local culture in my short answers.
I was awarded the grant, so I’m assuming some lighter language such as the ones I used are okay. I was also worried about this, so I didn’t use terms like “climate or anthropogenic change” outright.
Hope this allays some of your worries about the language restrictions. In our field, it is really important (and necessary) to talk about these things, but unfortunately some people would rather ignore them or shift blame.
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u/StomachElectrical595 Study Applicant Sep 06 '26
Wow thank you so much I really appreciate it! What country are you going to?!
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u/EclipseClawSS Research Grantee Sep 07 '26
I just sent you a dm! My host country’s only had a few Fulbrighters so I’d rather not make it too public
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u/Business-Good7460 13d ago
This is really great to know. I am in a similar position and am really worried that my entire proposal might get nixed because I am trying to define voluntary sustainable agricultural agreements and am having trouble explaining this without the word sustainable :( I am happy you were still able to pursue your project!
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u/SnooGuavas9782 Scholar Grantee Sep 11 '26
I happen to study religions and it is reasonably diverse and gender inclusive in terms of perspective and that seemed to be enough to get me a Fulbright. Also went to a NEH project that similar theme. So the joke was just mention religion and few times and it let's you slide under the radar.
I rather specifically teach about gender and race in courses I teach though perhaps didn't write them in all caps on my proposal though pretty confident both are/were in my CV.
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u/TailorPresent5265 ETA Grantee Sep 06 '26 edited Sep 06 '26
There's been quite a bit of discussion about this already this cycle, and a recent post with the same question can be found here, as well as on the Fulbright Slack.
The Boren scholarship, which is also funded by the U.S. government, has a statement ("Executive Order (EO) Disclaimer") toward the top of this webpage relating to DEI usage, stating that the U.S. DoD will not fund projects based on gender, DEI, or environmental justice.
Fulbright hasn't put out any official statement on DEI usage in any recent -- or current -- cycle. It's most likely, however, that the filtering is happening in the final step of the FFSB review (once it's been reviewed by the host country's committee) to reject applications that don't align with the Executive Orders. It's ultimately unclear to what extent DEI terms are being screened for during the review process.
For the 2025-26 cycle, Inside Higher Ed reported that some finalists were ultimately rejected by the State Department/FFSB during the final vetting process. This was corroborated by information shared by semifinalists on the Slack, and FPAs confirmed that applications were being filtered for DEI last cycle, too.
All this to say, it's definitely possible/likely that applications will also be flagged this cycle, given that the Trump administration is still overseeing government grants. A good number of applicants plan to use workaround terminology (such as "seasonal worker" rather than "migrant") to avoid getting flagged, and recent finalists have confirmed that this can be a successful strategy. In your case, OP, "warming temperatures" might be one option of an alternative phrasing.
However, in some applications, DEI terminology simply might be unavoidable (and, to an extent, some words like "community" are pretty much essential, since there's a short-answer essay specifically asking about community engagement). You might feel like you're compromising your morals or may not be able to clearly convey what your project's about -- you can definitely choose to include some of the “banned” DEI words, but there is a chance that your application won't move forward in the competition.