Sciences Scholars Join Prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program

This year, eight Georgia Tech students have been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, and four have been named as alternates. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, provides opportunities for students and professionals to study, conduct research, and teach abroad while promoting mutual understanding between the United States and other countries.

Among this year’s recipients are several members of Georgia Tech’s Class of 2026, as well as a doctoral student.

Divya Tadanki, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, expressed her enthusiasm about her future research plans. “Through the Fulbright,” she explained, “I’ll be working in the Netherlands to research the predictors of preterm labor. I’m very excited to delve deeper into my research interests with people from across the globe.”

After double-majoring in biology and Spanish, Sonali Kaluri is headed to Spain to study the health of migrant workers under the digital platform economy. “With the Fulbright Scholarship,” she said, “I will conduct research on the gig economy and its implementation into health systems in Spain at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.”

Having earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, Seth Kinoshita will be working with Professor Urszula Stachewicz in the Electrospun Nanofibers group at AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Poland. “I am excited to connect with my Polish heritage, explore Eastern Europe, and strengthen my research background,” he remarked. “Thank you to Dr. Brunner for their endless support during this process, and I encourage everyone to consider applying for fellowships while at Tech!”

Zachary Beddingfield, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology, will travel to Germany as a Fulbright Research Scholar where he will explore the intersection of his two passions: biology and machine learning. “I will be learning how to implement Protein Language Models to design de novo proteins that are unrelated to any proteins found in nature,” he explained. “I hope to design a de novo protease that degrades a specific protein responsible for most symptoms in human urinary tract infections, as proof of concept that these tools can be used to target a broad range of pathogenic proteins.”

With a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, Diya Chutani will continue her academic journey as a Fulbright Canada recipient, beginning a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Western Ontario’s Music and Neuroscience Lab. “To be able to return to the music cognition community I discovered in Ontario last summer,” she noted, “where there is value in both my musical and scientific background, is a privilege I am so grateful for. I am eager to begin contributing meaningfully to research that can enhance music-based interventions for neurodegenerative diseases.”

Anya Martin, who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Interactive Computing, plans to focus on weather and climate forecasting in India. “I plan to use the Fulbright to do social-scientific work with meteorologists in India using AI machine learning (AI/ML) methods for weather and climate forecasting,” she said, reflecting on her selection for the award. “AI/ML methods have a lot of promise for meteorology, but we will see how the methods pan out in practice.”

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided nearly 450,000 talented and accomplished individuals with the opportunity to exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. More than 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Students — including recent college graduates, graduate students, and early career professionals — pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English in schools abroad each year.

Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide support to the Program, which operates in over 160 countries. In the United States, the Institute of International Education implements the Fulbright U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.

For more information about the Fulbright Program or other nationally competitive awards, visit the Prestigious Fellowships Advising website or contact the team at fellowshipsadvising@gatech.edu.