Polish and U.S. officials March 10 signed a new Fulbright Agreement in Washington to continue the exchange of students, scholars and teachers between the two countries. The agreement significantly raises the financial contribution of the Polish side, and consequently enables more people to not only study in Poland and the United States, but also to teach and carry out scientific research on a much larger scale than previously.

The Polish-American Fulbright Program, launched in 1959, is designed to train Poland's future leaders in academia, business, government and nongovernmental organizations. The program provides information to those interested in studying in the United States and works with Polish and American businesses to increase scholarship opportunities.

The previous Polish-American Fulbright Agreement, signed in Oct. 20, 1995, expired in 2005. Under the new agreement, Poland's financial input to the program will be increased considerably to match that of the United States. "Previously Poland allocated some zl.450,000 annually for the scholarship exchange program, but from 2008 this figure will rise to some zl.1.5 million and then increase further each year for another four years until it reaches zl.4 million," said Barbara Kudrycka, Poland's minister for science and higher education. "In the past, the student-exchange program run by the Fulbright Commission involved 35 Polish students and 25 U.S. students annually on average. The increase in our financial contribution will mean that twice as many-and in the future hopefully three times as many-Polish students will take part in the program. This is important since these students will be able to participate in scientific research of the highest global standards."