Fulbright Visiting Scholars: Fostering Global Research Collaborations

Each year, the United States welcomes roughly 900 faculty and professionals from around the world as part of the Fulbright Visiting Scholar program, encouraging global research collaborations. UC Irvine’s Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) is pleased to be hosting two visiting scholars, strengthening international connections for future partnerships.

Leila Nasraoui, an associate professor of telecommunications at the University of Manouba in Tunisia, has joined the Intelligent and Autonomous Systems Lab, led by Computer Science Professor Marco Levorato. “Nasraoui is an expert in wireless communications and networking,” says Levorato. “Our collaboration is exploring new communication strategies to support distributed machine learning in 5G and 6G systems.”

Sarvesh Pandey, an assistant professor of computer science from Banaras Hindu University in Uttar Pradesh, is working with Computer Science Professor Sharad Mehrotra. “There are several things he’s working on with us, including data processing in a decentralized ledger — that is, when data is geographically distributed,” says Mehrotra. “He’s also involved with a project on incorporating machine learning techniques inside databases for faster and more efficient data analysis.”

Rich Research and Cultural Exchange

Nasraoui’s research interests focus on the design and optimization of emerging and future wireless communication networks. During her ten-month stay at UC Irvine, she will tackle a new research topic, exploring semantic communication and edge intelligence.

“Collaborating closely with Professor Levorato’s team, we are designing and optimizing advanced distributed computing frameworks to enable an efficient deployment of Deep Neural Network models in mobile applications,” she says. “Given the substantial computational demands of DNN models, local processing on resource-constrained mobile devices is often infeasible. Our research aims to overcome this limitation by developing intelligent offloading and resource allocation strategies, ensuring seamless and efficient execution of machine learning applications in 5G and 6G communication systems.”

As a Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Nasraoui is excited to be collaborating with a leading research team in distributed computing and edge intelligence. “This experience has provided me with deep exposure to cutting-edge research, access to software and hardware facilities, and the chance to contribute to pioneering advancements in the field,” she says. “This will not only sharpen my technical expertise in an emerging field, but also expand my professional network, opening doors to future long-term collaborations.”

Beyond her research, she is enjoying the rich cultural exchange as a visiting scholar. “It allows me to engage with diverse insights, share my own background, and build meaningful connections in a globally collaborative environment.”

The Potential for Long-Term Collaboration

Pandey’s research focuses on efficient database-querying mechanisms for sensor-based smart buildings with Internet of Things (IoT) technology. “With the proliferation of heterogeneous sensors generating massive amounts of real-time data, processing this information efficiently at query time poses a significant challenge,” he says. “My work on blockchain technology and database systems aims to develop mechanisms for privacy-preserving data processing, ensuring that sensor data can be seamlessly integrated into various smart systems.”

With this background, he was immediately drawn to the Testbed for IoT-based Privacy-Preserving PERvasive Spaces (TIPPERS) project at UC Irvine, which offers the perfect environment for applying his work.

“I’m also mentoring a group of undergraduate students who are developing a model for predicting price movements for the decentralized blockchain Ethereum, combining real-time Ethereum ledger data with external data sources,” he says. “This project allows me to share my expertise in blockchain systems while engaging with students in an applied research setting.”

Pandey is similarly enjoying the cultural opportunities afforded to him as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar. “What excites me most about this fellowship is its dual focus on academics and cultural exchange,” he says. “The opportunity to work at UC Irvine has been truly transformative — not only in terms of research but also in terms of learning from diverse perspectives.”

Pandey will be at UC Irvine until November 2026, but Mehrotra is already looking forward to future collaborations when he returns to Banaras Hindu University. “The work Pandey is doing right now on machine learning techniques is central to our future understanding of large-scale data processing,” says Mehrotra. “So I’m hoping that this leads to further work on generative AI and large language models, as I’m envisioning productive research collaborations in the long term.”

Visit the UC Irvine Fulbright U.S. Scholars Program website for more information about scholar applications or sponsorship. Applications are now open for the 2026-27 academic year. You can also contact Andrea Bell at andreapb@uci.edu with questions.

— Shani Murray