Eleven Fulbright scholarships for Irish students to study in the US have been announced. For the first time Irish and American companies are sponsoring the scholarships, which are each worth at least £10,000.
Six are open, with no subject specified. These have been sponsored by Jefferson Smurfit, Guinness, Aer Rianta, Greenwich Capital Markets, Mutual of America and the CRH Group.
Five are for nominated disciplines. These include two for a disabled student or for a student to take a course in disability studies; one is sponsored by the Bank of Ireland and the other by a donor who has named it after the US ambassador, Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith.
Mr Brian Burns, the Irish-American art collector, has sponsored an art scholarship. The Riverdance scholarship is for dance and the Claddagh Records scholarship is for musicology.