PhD Fellowship Program
The Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship is a two-year fellowship program for outstanding PhD students nominated by their universities. This program supports men and women in their third and fourth years of PhD graduate studies. To be eligible for this fellowship, you must apply during your second or third year of PhD studies. Fellowships are granted by Microsoft Research at the discretion of Microsoft.
2013 PhD Fellowship Recipients
Pictured from left to right, back row: Bharath Hariharan, Mert Pilanci, Walter Lasecki, Michael Paul; middle row: Ahmed Kirmani, Yufei Zhao, Mathew Weinberg, Rahul Sharma, Mingchen Zhao; front row: Jeffrey Rzeszotarski, Gennady Pekhimenko, Rashmi Vinayak
Current Schedule
- Microsoft is not currently accepting applications.
Provisions of the Award
- The fellowship recipient award will cover 100 percent of the tuition and fees for two academic years (2013–14 and 2014–15).
- A stipend is provided to cover living expenses while in school (US$28,000 for 2013–14 and 2014–15).
- A conference and travel allowance is provided for recipients to attend professional conferences or seminars (US$4,000 for 2013–14 and 2014–15).
- All recipients will be offered the opportunity to complete one salaried internship during the year following the award.
- Fellowships are awarded to recipients for two consecutive academic years only and are not available for extension.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants for the Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship Program must be nominated by their universities, and their nominations must be confirmed by the office of the chair of the eligible department. Direct applications from students are not accepted.
- Student must attend a United States or Canadian university and be enrolled in the Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or Mathematics department (if your department is within the scope of these areas, but is titled differently, you are eligible).
- Students must be in their second or third year of an eligible PhD program in the fall semester or quarter of 2012. The nominating university will be asked to confirm the student’s PhD program start date (month/year).
- A maximum of three applicants per eligible department, per eligible university, will be accepted. A total of nine applications per university will be allowed.
- Payment of the fellowship awards, as described above, will be made directly to the university and is not transferable to another academic institution or department.
- The recipient must remain an active, full-time student in a PhD program over the two consecutive academic years of the award or forfeit the award.
- A recipient of a Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship may not receive another fellowship from another company or institution for the same academic period. Fellows accepting multiple fellowships will become ineligible to receive continued funding from Microsoft.
How to Apply
The application period has closed for 2012.
- Applications must include: Nominee's thesis proposal, nominee's curriculum vitae, and three (3) letters of reference from established researchers familiar with the nominee’s research. Of these, one (1) letter should come from the student's advisor.
- Applications must be submitted online via the application tool in any of the following formats: Word document, text-only file, or PDF. Email or hard-copy applications will not be considered. All application materials must be submitted by the person who is designated as the application contact by the departmental chair's office and must not be the applicant.
- Applications submitted to Microsoft will not be returned. Microsoft cannot assume responsibility for the confidentiality of information in submitted applications. Therefore, applications should not contain information that is confidential, restricted, or sensitive. Microsoft reserves the right to make public information from applications that receive awards, except those portions containing budgetary or personally identifiable information.
- Incomplete applications cannot be considered, and notification of incompleteness will not be made. Applications must be received no later than 11:59 P.M. PT (Pacific Time) on Tuesday, October 9, 2012. The online application system will no longer be active after the application deadline. Late applications will not be accepted.
- Due to the volume of submissions, Microsoft Research cannot provide individual feedback on applications that do not receive Fellowship awards.
Related Links
Contact Us
- See the Frequently Asked Questions.
- Please direct any questions to your university department chair.
- Or contact Microsoft directly at:
msrfellow@microsoft.com
Microsoft Research
One Microsoft Way – 99/4118
Redmond, WA 98052
