Two UT Students Win Prestigious Goldwater Scholarships
The pair are the latest STEM students from The University of Texas at Austin to be selected.
Fiona Romanoschi and Dhroov Pathare are winners of the Goldwater Scholarship.
Fiona Romanoschi and Dhroov Pathare, both students in The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Natural Sciences, have been awarded the Goldwater Scholarship for the 2026-2027 academic year.
The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is a highly prestigious award that provides $7,500 annually for educational expenses to students who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering. This year, the Goldwater Scholarship was awarded to 454 students nationwide out of a pool of over 5,000 applicants.
Fiona Romanoschi, a junior studying mathematics and informatics in the School of Information, plans to pursue a Ph.D. in statistics. Romanoschi hopes to become a researcher at a national laboratory and develop inference methods for complex systems. At UT, her research has focused on building models that simulate the dynamics of ice sheets that are a major contributor to sea-level rise. In 2023, Romanoschi founded the UT Austin Informatics Undergraduate Student Council, a student organization focused on inclusion and student success.
“I’m deeply grateful to my research mentors, professors at UT, and earlier teachers who encouraged my interest in mathematics and science,” Romanoschi said. “This award also motivates me to continue pursuing research with the same level of curiosity and dedication, and I’m excited to be part of the broader Goldwater Scholar community.”
Dhroov Pathare, a second-year student majoring in neuroscience and Plan II honors in the College of Liberal Arts, aims to obtain a Ph.D. in neuroengineering and develop therapeutics that can cross the blood-brain barrier to target diseased brain tissue. As a Dean’s Scholar, Pathare conducts research for his honors thesis on engineering antibodies that can treat brain disorders. He said receiving the Goldwater Scholarship has been a meaningful experience that has solidified his dedication to research.
“Receiving the Goldwater Scholarship has deepened my motivation to engage with complex biological questions and strengthened my commitment to impactful scientific discovery,” Pathare said. “This recognition motivates me to contribute to research that can ultimately translate into meaningful advances in human health.”
The university and college have scholarship staff—in UT’s Office of Distinguished and Postgraduate Scholarships and the CNS Scholarship Office—who support students in connecting with prestigious scholarships for U.S. STEM students.
