Texas Global Awards 17 New Grants to Faculty
- Mar 8, 2022
- Ellen Stader
Texas Global has awarded 17 global engagement grants to 18 faculty members of The University of Texas at Austin in completion of the Fall 2021 funding cycle. The grants, which total nearly $184,000, will assist faculty from across campus in developing global initiatives and internationally focused projects in 2022 and 2023. To date, Texas Global has provided $440,000 in grant funding to faculty members across 14 colleges and schools to advance global engagement.
“These grant opportunities support UT faculty in myriad ways: travel, curriculum development and implementation, and partnership development with peers, institutions or organizations to establish internship programs abroad,” said Sonia Feigenbaum, senior vice provost for global engagement and chief international officer. “As such, we will deepen existing linkages and create new partnerships, thereby expanding our global reach while providing pathways for our faculty to advance their teaching and research.”
Striving continually to expand its offerings to faculty and scholars, Texas Global provides a variety of research and teaching awards to support faculty in their international collaborations aimed toward enriching the university's academic mission. The Texas Global Funding Opportunities page contains complete information on financial support offered to faculty.
Global Virtual Exchange
Funds for the Global Virtual Exchange initiative encourage UT Austin faculty to co-develop and co-teach collaborative online international learning courses with peers at universities around the world, offering students a deeper understanding of both subject matter and global perspectives by engaging in project- or problem-based learning.
Global Virtual Exchanges contribute to UT Austin’s mission of integrating global perspectives and innovative teaching practices into the curriculum. Including the recipients from this funding cycle, Texas Global since 2017 has awarded 62 GVE grants to faculty in 12 colleges and schools, partnering with colleagues in 36 countries.
Octavio Kano-Galván
Assistant Professor of Practice, Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, Moody College of Communication
“360 Video Production”
(In partnership with Anahuac University, Mexico, and De Montfort University, United Kingdom)
Alice McCoy-Bae
Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Asian Studies, College of Liberal Arts
“Bringing Korea into the Classroom; Third-Year Korean I”
(In partnership with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea)
Alida Louisa Perrine
Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, College of Liberal Arts
“Black Digital Feminisms in Brazil”
(In partnership with Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Brazil)
Faculty Research Seed Grant
Launched in November 2020, Texas Global’s Faculty Research Seed Grants provide financial backing to faculty across all disciplines to develop and strengthen new or existing partnerships with leading higher education institutions and organizations around the world. The initiative supports UT Austin faculty and their international counterparts in collaborating on research to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Applicants may request seed funds of up to $10,000 to propose a new research project with a peer collaborator at an existing or potential partnering institution or organization. Successful proposals generally address one or more of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Projects can include sponsoring guest speakers or public lectures, organizing symposia or facilitating other research activities.
Since the inception of the program, Texas Global has awarded 25 Faculty Research Seed Grants to UT Austin faculty members representing 10 colleges and schools across campus.
Zhengrong Cui
Professor, College of Pharmacy
“Innovative Bimetallic-Oxide Nanoparticles Loaded with a Repurposed Tetracycline for Periodontal Disease Therapy”
(In partnership with the University of Porto, Portugal)
David Edward DeMatthews
Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, College of Education
Ricardo Ainslie
MK Hage Centennial Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education
“Examining Effective and Sustainable Community-Based Approaches to Improving Educational Outcomes in Marginalized Communities in Mexico”
(In partnership with Enseña por Mexico, Mexico)
Benjamin D. Leibowicz
Assistant Professor, Department of 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, Department of Sociology, College of Liberal Arts
“Employment Mobility and the Segmentation of the 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 the University of Guadalajara, Mexico)
Scott Myers
Professor, Department of Linguistics, College of Liberal Arts
“Acoustic Correlates of Focus in Luganda”
(In partnership with Makerere University, Uganda)
Kevin Thomas
Professor, Department of 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 the University of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone)
Faculty Travel Planning Grant
Texas Global strives to increase exposure for the UT Austin community to global arts and culture, regional politics and histories, numerous languages and contrasting global perspectives. Such exposure can help equip travelers with the skills, intercultural acumen and access necessary to make a positive impact in an increasingly interconnected world.
To this end, Faculty Travel Planning Grants help fund UT Austin faculty wishing to establish connections abroad in the interest of meeting eligibility requirements to apply for other Texas Global funding opportunities. Applicants may request up to $2,500 in travel funds to support development of their proposals.
Desiree Pallais-Downing
Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education
“Aligning Peruvian Literacy Development Experiences with Global Education Engagement Proposal via Collaborative Planning”
(In partnership with Cayetano Heredia University, Peru)
Global Career Launch
Support from the Global Career Launch (GCL) initiative allows UT faculty to collaborate with peers at institutions around the world, developing hands-on, in-country work and research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students within an innovative internship framework.
Texas Global introduced Global Career Launch in early 2020 to expand upon long-standing UT faculty connections with their international peers and simultaneously assist UT Austin students in taking advantage of high-impact internship and research opportunities abroad.
Faculty awardees receive a travel grant and stipend to oversee cohorts of up to 10 students with both in-person and virtual internships. Students receive $4,000 to support their experience abroad. Since the program’s introduction, 16 GCL awards have gone to 14 faculty and students across seven colleges and schools.
Thoralf Meyer
Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography and the Environment, College of Liberal Arts
“Challenges and Opportunities in Wildfire Research and Management”
(In partnership with Thakadu Bush Camp and MODISA Wildlife Project, Botswana)
Marilyn Felkner
Clinical Assistant Professor, Public Health Program, School of Human Ecology, College of Natural Sciences
“Prevention through Empowerment”
(In partnership with Asociación Nuestros Ahijados, Antigua, Guatemala)
Zachary Elkins
Associate Professor, Department of Government, College of Liberal Arts
“Democratic Institutional Development”
(In partnership with International IDEA, Panama City, Panama)
Luisa Gil Fandino
Assistant Professor, Division of Textiles and Apparel, School of Human Ecology, College of Natural Sciences
“Developing and Testing Medical Textiles”
(In partnership with CITEVE Textile Technology, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal)
Jessica Ciarla
Assistant Professor, Division of Textiles and Apparel, School of Human Ecology, College of Natural Sciences
“Fashion Entrepreneurship and Design”
(In partnership with ODEVAIWear, St. Petersburg, Russia)
