Penn Global Awards 2026 Dissertation Grants to 13 Doctoral Students for Global Research
PHILADELPHIA — Penn Global will support 13 doctoral students to conduct globally-oriented research through the 2026 Penn Global Dissertation Grants Program .
Launched in 2023, the program supports Ph.D. students conducting international fieldwork and research, enabling deeper engagement with communities, archives, and datasets around the world. The program also reflects Penn Global’s commitment to fostering early-career scholarship that addresses pressing global questions through interdisciplinary approaches.
The 2026 awardees will conduct research spanning Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas and come from six Schools at Penn, including the School of Arts and Sciences, Weitzman School of Design, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Perelman School of Medicine, Annenberg School for Communication, and the School of Social Policy & Practice, highlighting the breadth of global research activity across the University.
“These awards reflect Penn Global’s commitment to supporting doctoral students as they develop innovative, globally engaged research at a pivotal stage in their academic careers,” said Dr. Amy Gadsden, Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives. “The Dissertation Grants program responds directly to the need for greater support for international research by enabling students to deepen the global dimensions of their work and supports the University’s In Principle, In Practice strategic goals.”
Topics for this year’s Dissertation Grants-supported research include a study of heat stress and perinatal outcomes in Ghana and an examination of climate resilience in informal settlements in Jakarta, with implications for climate policy across the Global South. Other projects explore how U.S. domestic politics shapes international audiences’ perceptions of political leadership, architectural migration in post-Ottoman countries, South Asian science fiction, and advances in AI and public health.
“The Dissertation Grants program not only enables students to expand the global scope of their research but also helps position their work to address shared challenges with implications beyond academia,” noted Chris Klaniecki, Associate Director at Penn Global Initiatives. “
By supporting projects that span disciplines, regions, and methods, Penn is investing in research that can generate actionable insights and inform policy discussions on issues ranging from climate and health to governance and technological change.”
2026 Penn Global Dissertation Grants awardees include:
- Fertility and Assisted Reproductive Technology – Venera Albaeva, School of Arts and Sciences
- Heat Stress and Perinatal Outcomes in Ghana: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis – Vincent-Bio Bediako, School of Arts and Sciences
- Fragmented Feminist Histories of Architectural Migration: Unsettled Grounds and Archives in the Post-Ottoman Borderlands – Basak Eren, Weitzman School of Design
- A New Face of Interdependence: How the Global Reach of U.S. Domestic Politics Builds Foreign Audiences’ Attachments to American Political Elites – Tom Etienne, Annenberg School for Communication / School of Arts and Sciences
- Antigen Presentation Changes Driving Adaptive Immunity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Julia Fleming, Perelman School of Medicine
- Climate Change Adaptation and Urban Resilience in the Global South – Husel Husile, School of Social Policy & Practice
- The Everyday Prophet: The Milād and Muslim Communities in South Asia (c. 1865–1965) – Rushnae Kabir, School of Arts and Sciences
- Technologies of the Marvelous: Urdu and Hindi Science Fiction in South Asia (c. 1880–1980) – Nudrat Kamal, School of Arts and Sciences
- Crisis, Cohesion and Consolidation: Salafism and Transnational Networks of Learning – Mohamud Mohamed, School of Arts and Sciences
- Comparative Politics (Pakistan) – Shanze-Fatima Rauf, School of Arts and Sciences
- Partitioned Peoples and the Limits of Self-Determination: A Comparative Study of the Kurds – Sirwan Renas, School of Arts and Sciences
- Field of Study: AI and Public Health – Neil Sehgal, School of Engineering and Applied Science
- The Emergence of Arabian Archaeology in the Long Twentieth Century – Amber Zambelli, School of Arts and Sciences