Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards Support Two Faculty Members in 2026-2027

Two professors from The University of Texas at Austin have received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Awards for the 2026-2027 academic year to conduct research abroad.  

UT Austin is consistently a top producer of Fulbright Students and Scholars among large U.S. universities, and the prestigious program supports the University in its mission of achieving excellence in education, research and public service. 

Associate Professor Srikanta Mishra in the Moody College of Communication and Professor Timothy Keitt in the College of Natural Sciences will join more than 800 U.S. scholars, artists and professionals from numerous disciplines who lead innovative explorations in teaching or research.  

With support from the Fulbright U.S. Scholar program, these faculty members, researchers, administrators and established professionals expand their academic networks in affiliation with institutions in more than 135 countries across the world.      

Texas Global has bolstered its faculty outreach efforts to promote Fulbright opportunities, resulting in an uptick in interest and engagement around Fulbright U.S. Scholar awards. The deadline to apply for the 2027-2028 Fulbright funding cycle is Friday, Sept. 15, and a new competition cycle opens in spring 2027. Please contact holly.schneider@austin.utexas.edu for more information.  

Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award  

Working in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Associate Professor Srikanta Mishra, Ph.D., will conduct a Fulbright project in collaboration with the Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, examining how age-related hearing loss may contribute to cognitive decline, particularly among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.   

Mishra is an audiologist, auditory neuroscientist and educator whose work combines neuroscience, clinical science, engineering and computational approaches to identify subtle changes in the auditory system at an early stage.  

Recognizing that today, approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide live with hearing loss, and more than 55 million people live with dementia, Mishra’s work addresses a growing global health challenge at the intersection of hearing and brain health. 

He aims to identify practical, accessible strategies that will improve early identification and intervention, helping people maintain healthier auditory and cognitive quality of life as they age. 

Mishra's Fulbright project will integrate hearing expertise into ongoing dementia research, develop culturally appropriate hearing assessment and early intervention strategies, and strengthen research capacity in hearing and brain health in India, with broader implications for other low- and middle-income countries.   

Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award 

Timothy Keitt, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, where he teaches ecological theory and field ornithology. He also serves as affiliated faculty at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences.  

Keitt’s Fulbright project, “Autonomous Sensing to Advance Eco-Evolutionary Modeling in a Biodiversity Hotspot,” will be based in Ecuador, with Universidad San Francisco de Quito. 

The project combines autonomous biodiversity monitoring with ecological and evolutionary modeling to better understand how species and ecological communities respond to environmental change across Ecuador’s remarkable Andes-to-Amazon biodiversity gradients. 

After obtaining degrees in zoology and a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology, Keitt discovered a parallel passion for computer science during his graduate studies. He has built his career by combining these interests, with postdoctoral fellow appointments at the Santa Fe Institute and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.   

Keitt and his collaborators in Ecuador will deploy networks of acoustic recorders and microclimate sensors along elevational gradients to continuously record animal activity and local environmental conditions, providing a detailed picture of how biodiversity changes across landscapes and over time. Those observations will combine with citizen-science resources and computational models to explore how species respond through movement and evolutionary adaptation.  

“What excites me most about the Fulbright is the opportunity to bring together new technology, ecological theory, and the extraordinary biodiversity of Ecuador while working closely with Ecuadorian colleagues and students,” Keitt said. “The goal is not simply to collect data during the fellowship, but to build tools, expertise and collaborations that can continue long after the Fulbright itself.” 

The deadline to apply for 2027-2028 Fulbright U.S. Scholar awards is Friday, Sept.15, 2026. Learn more about Fulbright U.S. Scholar awards and eligibility on the Fulbright Program website or contact holly.schneider@austin.utexas.edu for more information.