Educating Future Leaders
Notre Dame Global believes that our students can go as far as an opportunity takes them. Through an immersive, student-centered approach, study abroad provides students with life-changing experiences in international education; facilitates their academic and personal growth through learning, research, and service abroad; and fosters students’ global competency and engagement.
Students will be challenged and forced from their comfort zone, but the experience can and will make students stronger global citizens and future global leaders.
ND surpasses 87% for undergraduate study abroad participation
The University of Notre Dame has once again received national recognition for its commitment to internationalization and global education in newly released rankings from the Institute of International Education. For the 2022-23 academic year, study abroad participation among Notre Dame undergraduates increased by more than 10 percentage points from the previous year — from 77 to 87.5 percent, according to new data published in the Open Doors report.
London to the lab: How an internship shaped Grace O'Malley's experience abroad
“I came in knowing nothing about coding,” Grace confessed. “But by the end of the semester, I could write scripts to identify patterns in our data. It felt incredible to make substantial contributions to a team I admired so deeply. The work was intimidating and difficult; but at the end of each day, I left beaming with pride in the skills I was building and the progress I had made.”
When Grace O’Malley, a biology major at Notre Dame, hit send on an email to 20 professors she’d never met, she wasn’t sure what to expect. She certainly couldn’t have known that one of those emails would lead to an inspirational experience at Cambridge University that would shape both her academic and personal path.
Nanovic Sustainability Fellowships
For most students, studying abroad presents an opportunity to expand and deepen their knowledge and understanding of the world. It’s a time to see different places and cultures, broaden perspectives, and become better global citizens. For a select group of students, it’s also a chance to take their research to the next level.
The Nanovic Sustainability Fellowship allows students to conduct funded, independent research on a sustainability topic of their choice during their study abroad semester, diving deeply into the unique approaches taken by their host site. It is funded by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and supported by Notre Dame Global and the Notre Dame Office of Sustainability.
Related Stories:
From giving a TEDx Talk to starting a sustainability initiative, one student’s transformational experience in Hong Kong
When Bernice Antoine decided to do a semester abroad in Hong Kong, she expected to be challenged by the cultural differences she’d experience. She was looking forward to immersing herself in the Chinese culture because, as a native to Trinidad and Tobago—home to a sizeable population of Chinese immigrants—she wanted to experience the culture that had influenced her own. She didn’t expect, however, to be presenting a TEDx Talk in the final weeks of her semester in Hong Kong.
From South Bend to South Bombay: A journey in Catholic kinship
For Andrew Volpe, the study abroad program hosted by Notre Dame Mumbai was more than just a cultural immersion. It became a journey of spiritual clarity. "You’re never going to have your life changed if you’re not open to it," he said. "When you know you’re in a place where there’s a chance, you have to seek it out and be willing with an open heart to let yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit."
Volpe encourages future students to say yes to unexpected Masses, spontaneous conversations, and moments that feel outside their comfort zone. “Live with an open heart and an open mind… and trust that God has something in store for you,” Volpe advised.
GPE Program returns to Mainland China after 5 years
After being paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the University of Notre Dame’s Global Professional Experience (GPE) program officially resumed in mainland China on May 22, 2025. On that day, five Notre Dame undergraduates arrived in Beijing to begin their global professional experience.
During the seven-week program, in addition to workplace experience, Notre Dame Beijing organized a series of activities to deepen students’ understanding of Chinese culture. On the Dragon Boat Festival, students learned to make traditional zongzi by hand and, together with community staff, delivered this festive warmth to the homes of elderly people living alone.
