1127 



GRADUATE STUDENT/ POSTDOCTORAL INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE 199 



the past 5 years 49 American Fulbright grantees per year to Western 

 Europe: 16 at the lecture level and 33 as researchers. Table 3 portrays 

 the distribution of American scientists and engineers under Fulbright 

 awards in Western Europe by year (1978-1982) and by discipline. 



Because of inflation and rising costs, most of the Fulbright awards 

 made to U.S. scholars in all fields to Western Europe in recent years 

 have been partial grants for periods of less than 9 months. In the past, 

 most Fulbright grantees have been able to make up the difference be- 

 tween the amount of the Fulbright award and their expenses abroad 

 through sabbatical leave pay or with support provided by their host 

 institution. However, the uncertain economic climate in the United 

 States has meant that fewer American colleges and universities can 

 supplement Fulbright awards through sabbatical pay. As a conse- 

 quence, many American scholars are being forced to limit their stays 

 in Western Europe to a few months. It appears, however, that more 

 science than nonscience applicants are able to supplement awards. 



Trends in Postdoctoral Appointments Abroad for Doctoral Scien- 

 tists and Engineers From U.S. Universities. If we wish to assess in 

 more detail the movement of postdoctoral fellows from the United 

 States to other countries, we must distinguish between two classes of 

 postdoctoral foreign research experiences: those of new postdoctoral 

 scientists, and those of a larger, older group extending into sabbati- 

 cal/senior scientist research-teaching appointments abroad. 



With respect to new postdoctoral scientists, we have some quantita- 

 tive information gathered by the National Research Council (NRC) on 

 those new Ph.D.s from U.S. universities who have indicated firm 

 commitments for postdoctoral study abroad. One should be cautious 

 of using these numbers, which indicate the trends of new postdoctoral 

 scientists' research plans, as indicators of the actual total numbers of 

 postdoctoral scientists. The actual total may be perhaps twice as high 

 during certain earlier periods for three reasons.^ First, in any given 

 year many prospective Ph.D.s, who have no firm foreign commit- 

 ment when they receive the NRC questionnaire, secure such appoint- 

 ments later on. (The NRC survey has observed that less than half (46 

 percent of a sample of 441 individuals who held postdoctoral appoint- 

 ments abroad during the period 1970-1976 had had firm plans for for- 

 eign postdoctoral study at the time of the Ph.D. The remaining 54 per- 

 cent had had other plans at that time.) Second, in any given year, a 

 number of Ph.D.s who were awarded the degree 2 to 5 or more years 

 earlier (and who do not figure in the data) take up postdoctoral posi- 

 tions abroad. Third, the NRC data do not include medical doctorates 

 who in years past (particularly the 1960s) entered into foreign basic 



