SU's Alberi Earns Prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship

By SU Public Relations

SALISBURY, MD---Professionally, Salisbury University student Stephora Alberi has spent the past eight months conducting research expected to help Estonia reach the moon by 2030.

Educationally, she has a more terrestrial destination in mind: the University of Cambridge in England.

Alberi recently became the first SU student since 2013 to win the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, covering the full cost of her post-graduate study at the world’s third-oldest university in continuous operation.

At Cambridge, the Salisbury resident plans to pursue a Ph.D. in biotechnology, using computer vision to make microscopes smarter and more self-sufficient. Her research is expected to improve the imaging process for infectious diseases.

“I believe computer vision can accelerate diagnostics and drug recovery for infectious diseases in vulnerable countries in the Global South,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to getting into the work I’m preparing for right now.”

“Stephora is already making a difference through her scientific work at the University of Tartu,” said SU President Carolyn Ringer Lepre. “That she was selected for the highly competitive Gates Cambridge Scholarship speaks not only to her level of commitment, but also to her potential impact on the global science and engineering communities. We are proud that Salisbury University served as her foundation and the springboard for her STEM career.”

Alberi has credited the undergraduate research opportunities she received through SU’s Computer Science Department among her educational influences.

These included the chance to participate in the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates initiative at SU. During the 10-week summer program, working with Dr. Enyue (Annie) Lu, she used SU’s Henson High-Performance Computing Lab to work on a parallel algorithm project while networking with other participants from across the country.

At SU, she also conducted research in artificial intelligence via a deep-learning project with Dr. Shuangquan (Peter) Wang, laying the foundation for the work she currently is doing with her supervisors, Ric Dengel and Saimoon Quazi Islam, in the University of Tartu in Estonia’s Observatory Space Technology Department.

There, she is conducting research on feature detectors for Kuupkulgur, Estonia’s first lunar rover as part of a David L. Boren Scholarship through the Defense Language National Security Education Office (DLNSEO) while also studying Russian. (Scholars in the Boren program, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, are compelled to study a language deemed critical by the DLNSEO.)

The opportunity marks Alberi’s second experience at the University of Tartu. As the 2025 beGirl.world All-Country Scholar, she participated in the university’s Vision in Space course in summer 2024, following her junior year at SU. That experience led to her applying to return to the institution through the Boren program, one of several opportunities she pursued through SU’s Nationally Competitive Fellowships Office. (She also was a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for postgraduate study at the University of Oxford, England — the third in SU history— as well as a Fulbright U.S. Student alternate.)

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship, she said, will expand on her experiences so far.

“The thing that I’m most looking forward to is meeting the people I’m going to work with in the lab,” she said. “I have a lot of amazing people right now who are sending me correspondence telling me what to expect. I’m looking forward to joining my Gates Cambridge Scholars cohort, who have a lot of unique backgrounds. I think there might be some intersecting going on between the different types of things that we’re doing. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it.”

Established in 2000 by a $210 million donation to Cambridge from the Gates Foundation, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship allows students from outside the United Kingdom to pursue full-time postgraduate degrees in any subject offered. Selection criteria include outstanding intellectual ability, leadership potential and a commitment to improving the lives of others.

Alberi was one of approximately only 26 U.S. students selected for this year’s award. Internationally, more than 6,000 students compete for approximately 80 of the scholarships annually.

“I’m very happy that I received this amazing opportunity,” she said. “I will not take it for granted.”

Students interested in applying for the Gates Cambridge or other nationally competitive fellowships or scholarships should fill out the interest form available at https://www.salisbury.edu/administration/academic-affairs/nationalfellowships/student-resources.aspx or email Dr. Kristen Walton, director of SU’s Nationally Competitive Fellowships Office, at kpwalton@salisbury.edu.

Learn more about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours at www.salisbury.edu.