Europe

This May, students from WashU’s Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering swapped their usual classrooms for a two-week international experience module hosted by the University of Warwick.

Ampersand Programs immediately immerse first-year students in the very best of WashU, blending classroom study with experiential learning while fostering tight-knit cohorts and close connections with faculty.

Psychological and brain sciences PhD graduate Merve Ileri-Tayar, a native of Cankiri, Turkey, earned the 2025 Dean’s Award for Graduate Research Excellence and was named a McDonnell International Scholar. She will continue her research on attention, cognitive control, and goal-directed behavior as she pursues a career in cognitive psychology.

Five new projects have been selected for funding through the WashU–University of Warwick Collaboration Fund, the latest step in advancing our strategic partnership. The projects span the physical and life sciences, humanities and social sciences, and AI-enabled healthcare education, each pairing complementary expertise from both institutions to tackle complex global challenges with lasting academic, educational, and societal impact.

Nine recent WashU alumni and one current student received Fulbright awards to teach English or to conduct research abroad during the 2026-27 academic year. Established in 1946, the prestigious Fulbright program recognizes talented leaders and scholars and strives to increase global collaboration and fellowship.

Catalina Bernabé Correa chose WashU for a lot of reasons — the distinguished program in biomedical engineering at McKelvey Engineering; the support for student entrepreneurs through the Skandalaris Center; and the wide range of co-curricular activities. WashU also offered Bernabé the opportunity to meet leading scientists from around the globe.

Researchers at WashU Medicine will investigate genetic and molecular factors behind Alzheimer’s prevalence in Caribbean populations. This groundbreaking study, supported by NIH funding, aims to enhance personalized care, diagnostics and treatment strategies for patients worldwide.

Lesley Malin, AB ’88, and Scott Helm, BSBA ’87, of Baltimore, have made a $1.35 million gift to support WashU’s annual summer theater program at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, which is hosted by the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences.

Dr. Ali Khalilov, an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), is visiting the Chemistry Department at WashU as a Fulbright scholar, where he is part of Prof. Birman’s research group. His current project focuses on designing new self-complementary hydrogen-bonded arrays, exploring their potential as self-healing smart materials.

Using comparative urbanism as their lens, the authors examine the socio-economic and political ramifications of neighborhood gentrification in three prominent global cities—New York, London, and Seoul, South Korea — since the 2007-09 Great Recession.