The Fulbright-Junta de Andalucía scholarships will allow nine graduates and early career researchers from three public universities in Andalusia to carry out master’s studies or predoctoral research stays at prominent academic institutions in the United States for the 2025/2026 academic year. The Ministry of University, Research, and Innovation awards these grants every year as part of its commitment to promoting excellence in the academic and research training of young talent from Andalusia, enabling them to meet the needs of an increasingly changing job market and the scientific challenges posed by the progress and social well-being of the community.
These young individuals, with outstanding academic backgrounds and budding scientific careers, are at the forefront of knowledge and belong to the academic institutions in Granada, Málaga, and Seville. Out of the nine selected candidates, eight will have the opportunity to deepen their R&D projects through stays ranging from six to nine months within the framework of their doctoral studies, while the remaining candidate will complete their academic training with a master’s program, which they will pursue for one year, renewable for another.
Four of them are graduates of the University of Granada (Paula Becerra, Fernando Morales, Joan Llorca, and Lola Molina), three have studied at the University of Málaga (María Inocencia Perea, Federico Lozano, and Francisco Rodríguez), and two have been trained at the University of Seville (Vanessa García and José Antonio Rodríguez).
The fields of study in which these profiles have specialized are diverse and related to biological sciences, telecommunications, mathematics, literature, archaeology, history, audiovisual communication, and environmental studies. The scholarships they have obtained will allow them to enhance their knowledge in areas such as physical anthropology, ecological governance, technology ethics, machine learning in space communications, animation, or regulated and emerging contaminants in the environment.
Their integration into their destination universities will take place from August onwards. Most of these academic institutions are among the top one hundred recognized by the Shanghai ranking: Harvard University (Massachusetts), Florida State University, Saint Louis University (Missouri), University of California at Santa Cruz, University of Oklahoma, Northern Illinois University, and School of Visual Arts in New York. In addition, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA (California) is included.
Over half a million euros for this program this academic year
The Fulbright-Junta de Andalucía scholarships, with an allocation of 530,669 euros for this year, have been awarded since 2005, with a total investment by the regional government of over six million euros, to enable the training of over a hundred beneficiaries, including these nine profiles for the upcoming academic year. This grant program is aimed at graduates linked to Andalusia, with a higher education degree and demonstrable English proficiency, who aspire to obtain a master’s degree or are pursuing doctoral studies.
Excellence and internationalization are fundamental pillars of the regional government’s university and R&D&I policy. This collaboration initiative between Andalusia and the Fulbright program aligns with this objective and complements other research actions aimed at both retaining talent in the region and attracting high-level scientific profiles of international relevance to strengthen the structure of human capital dedicated to this field in the community.
Candidates’ trajectories
José Antonio Rodríguez Gallego (Seville, 1997) has pursued a double degree in Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Seville, where he has also completed a master’s degree in Logic, Computing, and Artificial Intelligence and is currently pursuing a doctoral program in Mathematics. His research focuses on reduced order models and their application to thermal comfort analysis. From September of this year and for eight months, he will delve into quantum-inspired techniques and their application to Galerkin models at the University of Saint Louis.
Malaga-native Federico Lozano Cuadra is a predoctoral researcher at the University of Malaga in the field of Telecommunications Engineering, focusing on machine learning in space communications. He will continue his scientific career at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA (California), delving deeper into this area for a period of six months. He graduated from UMA in Telecommunications Engineering Systems and has completed two master’s degrees in Telematics and Telecommunications Networks and Telecommunications Engineering.
Fernando Morales de Rueda (Granada, 1993) is a Ph.D. student in Ecology at the University of Granada, specializing in governance for ecosystem restoration in the context of climate change. His scholarship period will be nine months, during which he will enhance his knowledge in this area at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He studied Environmental Sciences at the University of Granada and completed a master’s degree in Territorial Planning, Governance, and Leadership.
María Inocencia Perea Moreno (Malaga, 1998) began her higher education with a degree in History from the University of Malaga and specialized in Medieval Iberian World through a master’s program. Currently, she is a predoctoral researcher in the field of Medieval History and has chosen the University of Saint Louis, where she will join in August to enhance her research in this area.
Vanessa García-Fernández graduated in Basic and Experimental Biomedicine from the University of Seville and completed a master’s degree in Biomedical Research at the Biomedical Research Institute of Seville (IBIS), where she is pursuing a doctoral program in Molecular Biology, Biomedicine, and Clinical Research. The six-month grant awarded to her will allow her to continue her work at Harvard University (Harvard Medical School) to deepen her research in the field of Biomedicine and Hepatology.
Joan Llorca Albareda, with degrees in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, obtained two master’s degrees in Political Theory and Democratic Culture and Applied Ethics. Currently a predoctoral researcher, his thesis focuses on the moral status of artificial intelligence entities. From September of this year, he will move to Northern Illinois University to advance in his research lines related to applied ethics and the philosophy of technology for six months.
Paula Becerra Fuello (Seville, 1996), with a degree in History from the University of Seville and a master’s degree in Physical Anthropology, is a research fellow with doctoral studies in the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Granada. The six-month grant awarded to her will allow her to continue her work at the University of Oklahoma from October to deepen her research career in the study of bone collections from Chalcolithic populations and the analysis of paleomobility through stable isotopes.
Francisco Rodríguez Sánchez (Malaga, 1999), with a degree in Hispanic Philology, holds two master’s degrees in Management of Spanish Literary and Linguistic Heritage and Teaching of Secondary Education from the University of Malaga, where he is pursuing a doctoral program in Linguistics, Literature, and Translation. He will continue his research project focusing on contemporary poetry at Florida State University through a six-month stay starting this spring.
Lola Molina Marzolini, originally from Argentina and residing in Almería, graduated in Fine Arts with a specialization in Animation from the University of Granada. Her main areas of work focus on digital illustration, heavily inspired by painting, character creation, and concept art. She will study for one year, extendable for another, in a master’s program at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
In more than 150 countries
Established in the United States in 1946, the Fulbright program has now expanded to over 150 countries, with bilateral agreements signed in 49 of them to create bilateral commissions for the management of these scholarships.
The initiative was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in 2014. In Spain, the Fulbright Commission was established in 1958 and, since then, has awarded over 9,000 scholarships to Spanish and American citizens for travel to study, research, get to know each other’s culture, and convey their own, becoming advocates of what is known as public diplomacy.