Researchers launching weather balloons in Antarctica at dusk

Texas Global Faculty Research Seed Grants

The Faculty Research Seed Grant contributes to Texas Global’s mission of developing a global mindset on campus with a focus on faculty researchers. This program provides funding and resources to support transnational research and outreach, cultivating international partnerships with higher education institutions, governments, nongovernmental organizations and global corporations across industries.

At a Glance

For:

UT Austin Faculty

Amount:

Up to $10,000

Deadline:

Spring 2025 TBA

Application Information

Texas Global Faculty Research Seed Grants support faculty with peer collaborators at institutions abroad to conduct research that addresses global challenges, addressing one or more of the UN Sustainability Goals. Applicants may request seed funding of up to $10,000 to propose a new research project with a peer collaborator at an international institution. Research projects should serve to strengthen UT Austin’s partnerships with leading institutions around the world.

The following universities will match funds for proposals that include faculty from their respective institutions and/or departments:

  • Ben Gurion University of the Negev (Israel)
  • Hanyang University (South Korea) (Data Science department only)
  • National Taiwan Normal University (Taiwan) (Fall cycle only)
  • National Taiwan University (Taiwan)
  • Paris Sciences et Lettres (France)
  • Tec de Monterrey (Mexico)

Texas Global awards Faculty Research Seed Grants on a semiannual basis, once in the fall semester and once in the spring semester.

Grant Period

For Fall 2024 applications: January 1, 2025 - January 31, 2026.

Application Deadline

The Fall application deadline has passed. The Spring request for proposals will be announced soon. 

Apply in InfoReady

For more information, contact us at txglobal-grants@austin.utexas.edu.

Research Seed Grant Faculty

Texas Global has awarded 47 research seed grants to faculty for research projects in 26 countries since it was launched in 2020.

2024 Spring

Sergio Castellanos

Assistant Professor, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
“Nearshoring and Sustainable Manufacturing: Techno-Economic Analysis and its Impact in the United States and Mexico”
In partnership with Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico


Jonathan Yan Chen

Professor, Division of Textiles and Apparel, School of Human Ecology
“Improving Circularity and Functionality of Fashion Products Through a UTTEC Partnership”
In partnership with Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico


Kelly Gettig

Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Dell Medical School
“Exploring the Burden of Traumatic Brain Injury in Young Children in Northern Tanzania”
In partnership with Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College, Tanzania


Kenneth Greene

Associate Professor, Department of Government, College of Liberal Arts
“Political Polarization and the Health of Mexico's Democracy”
In partnership with Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico


Manish Kumar

Professor, Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
“Flexible, Ultrathin Laser-induced Carbon Gas Separation Membranes”
In partnership with Ben Gurion University, Israel


Aaron Sandel

Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts
“Friend and Foe: Predicting Primate Behavior to Improve Human and Wildlife Coexistence”
In partnership with Makerere University, Uganda

2023 Fall

Shanti Nulu

Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine, Dell Medical School
“Optimizing Deep Learning Approaches for Enhanced Detection of Rheumatic Heart Disease from Portable Echocardiograms”
In partnership with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kenya


Allison Seeger

Research Associate, Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
“Characterization of the plasma and cellular antibody repertoires during canine L. infantum infection”
In partnership with Ahamdu Bello University, Nigeria


Hannah Williamson

Associate Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, College of Natural Sciences
“Examining the relative importance of social relationships and socioeconomic status for health and well-being: A cross-national study”
In partnership with Universidad de Granada, Spain

2023 Spring

Xiaofen Hamilton

Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education
“Regular Fitness Self-testing on Improving Health-related Fitness and Physical Activity Behaviors of American and Chinese College Students Using Wearables”
In partnership with South China University of Technology and Huaquiao University, China


Benjamin Ibarra-Sevilla

Associate Professor, School of Architecture
“Guidelines of Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Heritage Buildings with Cutting-Edge Repairing Technologies and Methods.”
In partnership with Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico


Mary Jo Kirisits

Professor, Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
“Investigating the impact of free-living amoebae and their bacterial endosymbionts on drinking water opportunistic pathogens”
In partnership with University of Poitiers, France


Yan Leng

Assistant Professor, Information, Risk, and Operations Management, McCombs School of Business
“Mapping Market Structure Evolution for Disadvantaged Businesses: An Application to a Brazilian Omnichannel Retailer”
In partnership with Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

2022 Fall

M. Bayani Cardenas

Professor, Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences
"Unseen belowground connection between land and sea and its impacts on water quality and ecosystem health of coral reefs around volcanic islands of the Philippines”
In partnership with Ateneo de Manila University and Silliman University, Philippines


Ji Ma

Assistant Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs
“The Evolution of Charity Regulation Regime in China”
In partnership with Beijing Normal University, China


Hsin-Chih (Tim) Yeh

Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
“Bioinspired nanomaterials for viral sensing”
In partnership with National Taiwan University, Taiwan

2022 Spring

Eugenio Yatsuda Arima

Associate Professor, Geography and the Environment, College of Liberal Arts
"The Guacamole Effect: Environmental Consequences of Trade Liberalization in Jalisco, Mexico"
In partnership with Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico


Raissa Fabregas Robles Gil

Assistant Professor, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
"Integrating Scientific Evidence into the Public Sphere: Evidence from Mexico"
In partnership with Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Mexico


Victoria Marone

Assistant Professor, Economics, College of Liberal Arts
"Exploring the Role of Private Healthcare Markets within a Universal Healthcare System"
In partnership with Statistics Norway, Norway


Ashley Matheny

Assistant Professor, Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geological Sciences
"From Land to Sea: An Assessment of Pollution Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems in Jamaica"
In partnership with The University of the West Indies, Jamaica


Sandro Sessarego

Associate Professor, Spanish and Portuguese, College of Liberal Arts
"Documenting the Afro-Hispanic Language Varieties of Mexico"
In partnership with Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Mexico


Ming Zhang

Professor, Community and Regional Planning, School of Architecture
"The U.S.-China Collaborative Research on Megaregion Sustainability"
In partnership with Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China

2021 Fall

Zhengrong Cui

Professor, College of Pharmacy
"Innovative Bimetallic-Oxide Nanoparticles Loaded with a Repurposed Tetracycline for Periodontal Disease Therapy"
In partnership with University of Porto, Portugal


David Edward DeMatthews

Associate Professor, Educational Leadership and Policy College of Education

Ricardo Ainslie

MK Hage Centennial Professor, Educational Psychology, College of Education
"Examining Effective and Sustainable Community-Based Approaches to Improving Educational Outcomes in Marginalized Communities in Mexico: A Collaboration between Enseña por Mexico and the University of Texas at Austin"
In partnership with Enseña por Mexico, Mexico


Benjamin D. Leibowicz

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
"Low Demand Levers for Climate Mitigation: Amplification Through Economic Upstream Effects and Spillovers"
In partnership with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria


Yang Li

Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
"Testing the Domestic Violence Enhanced Prenatal Care in China"
In partnership with Shandong University, China


Ken-Hou Lin

Associate Professor, Sociology, College of Liberal Arts
"Employment Mobility and the Segmentation of French Labor Market"
In partnership with Sciences Po, France


Robin Moore

Professor, Butler School of Music, College of Fine Arts
"Collaborative Ethnomusicology and Digital Humanities of the Americas: Research, Transmission, and Pedagogies"
In partnership with University of Guadalajara, Mexico


Scott Myers

Professor, Lingustics, College of Liberal Arts
"Acoustic Correlates of Focus in Luganda"
In partnership with Makerere University, Uganda


Kevin Thomas

Professor, African and African Diaspora Studies, College of Liberal Arts
"Collaborative Research on Knowledge, Perceptions, and Access to Vaccines for Children Living in Slum Communities in Freetown, Sierra Leone"
In partnership with University of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone

2021 Spring

Anthony Di Fiore

Professor, Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts
"Next-Generation Tropical Ecology: Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Study Biodiversity in a Hyperdiverse Forest Ecosystem"
In partnership with Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador


David Nicolas Espinoza

Associate Professor, Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
"CO2 Migration through Complex Plumbing Systems in Sedimentary Basins"
In partnership with University of Oxford, United Kingdom


Stephanie Grasso

Assistant Professor, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Moody College of Communication
"Patterns of Language Recovery in Mexican-Origin Spanish Speakers with Aphasia"
In partnership with Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Mexico


Junfeng Jiao

Associate Professor, School of Architecture
"Developing Smart Energy Neighborhoods in Seoul for Energy Efficiency and Resiliency"
In partnership with Seoul National University, South Korea


Fernando Llanos

Assistant Professor, Linguistics, College of Liberal Arts
"Documenting Neuroplasticity in Native Speakers of Endangered Languages in Latin America"
In partnership with Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, Mexico


Filippo Mangolini

Assistant Professor, J. Mike Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
"Engineering Lubricious Interfaces for Enhancing Sustainable Development"
In partnership with University of Coimbra, Portugal


Mohammed Maniruzzaman

Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy
"3D Printed Medicines for Patient-Specific Treatment of COVID-19"
In partnership with Imperial College London, United Kingdom


Marina Peterson

Associate Professor, Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts
"Elements for a Sustainable Future"
In partnership with Humboldt University, Germany and University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

2020 Fall

Kamran Ali

Professor, Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts
"Housing and the Urban Poor in Cairo, Egypt"
In partnership with American University in Cairo, Egypt


Karen Engle

Minerva House Drysdale Regents Chair, School of Law

Neville Hoad

Associate Professor, English, College of Liberal Arts
"The Future of Work in an Age of Pandemic: The Case of South Africa"
In partnership with University of Cape Town, South Africa


Stephanie Grasso

Assistant Professor, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Moody College of Communication

Maya Henry

Associate Professor, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Moody College of Communication
"Rehabilitating Communication in Bilingual Speakers with Language-Prominent Dementia"
In partnership with Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute, Spain


Tanya Hutter

Assistant Professor, J. Mike Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
"Tunable Ionization-Based Multi-Gas Detector Platform for Environmental, Medical and Industrial Applications"
In partnership with the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Portugal


Joel Johnson

Associate Professor, Geological Sciences, John A. and Katherine G. Jackson School of Geosciences
"Assessing Floods Risks and Controls on Channel Morphology in Earth’s Most Arid Environment: Atacama Desert, Chile"
In partnership with Aix-Marseille University, France and Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile


Cristine Legare

Professor, Psychology, College of Liberal Arts
"Cultural Variation in Adults’ Beliefs About Conformity in Children"
In partnership with University of Queensland, Australia


John Ronald Lowe

Joseph Blades Centennial Memorial Professor, School of Nursing
"Talking-Yarning Circles to Explore the Educational and Research Inequities Among Indigenous Nurses in Australia"
In partnership with University of Southern Queensland, Australia


Sonia Seeman

Associate Professor, Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music, College of Fine Arts
"Supporting Music Education at Higher Education Institutions in Pakistan"
In partnership with the National Academy of Performing Arts, Pakistan


Jasper Smits

Professor, Psychology, College of Liberal Arts
"The Mechanisms of Large-Group Exposure Therapy for Anxiety Sensitivity: An International Collaboration"
In partnership with Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel