Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship Program 2023

Microsoft Research is making changes to the PhD Fellowship program and will be pausing our call for proposals/nominations for the 2023 calendar year. We are exploring new avenues to invest in our academic partnerships and bring together students and researchers to collaborate, share knowledge, and pursue new research directions. We look forward to announcing a new program in May 2023. We invite you to check back on this page or follow us on social media for more details as they are announced.

The Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship is a global program that identifies and empowers the next generation of exceptional computing research talent. Microsoft recognizes the value of diversity in computing and aims to increase the pipeline of talent receiving advanced degrees in computing-related fields to build a stronger and more inclusive computing-related research community. We currently offer Ph.D. fellowships in Asia-Pacific, Canada, and the United States, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Over the last two decades, the Microsoft Research Ph.D. Fellowship program has supported over 700 fellows around the world, many of whom have gone on to work at Microsoft. Others have gone on to perform pioneering research elsewhere within the technology industry or accept faculty appointments at leading universities.

Eligibility Criteria

• Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Students should support this mission and embrace opportunities to foster diverse and inclusive cultures within their communities.
• PhD students must be enrolled at a university in Africa
• Proposed research must be closely related to one of the themes at Microsoft Africa Research Institute (MARI)
  • AI/ML/NLP/data science: In many practically useful applications, data is often scarce and biased. Understanding how we work under these settings and deliver useful results has a great impact for many practical problems and gives us deep insights into what it means to learn with data. From practical application such as NLP, to understanding the fairness and generality of results and deepening our understanding of what is feasible with the available data for a particular problem. We’re interested how we work better with the limitations of data.
  • Health: Advances in machine learning and AI offer us an opportunity to address the disparities in the access to, and delivery of quality healthcare for all people. We’re interested in understanding and exploring spaces where technology can assist to fill the gap, from assisting healthcare practitioners to perform their roles more effectively, to bridging the last mile to patients, through scaling the delivery and reach of quality healthcare using technology.
  • Sustainability: Microsoft’s commitment to sustainability will be achieved by leveraging cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to transform the way we monitor, model and ultimately help in solving environmental challenges facing the globe. Within MARI, we are applying AI and analytics to understand and develop solutions that will address challenges related to sustainability. If you are a student enrolled in an African University undertaking a PhD program in artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics or a related field with a focus on solving problems related to sustainability, we would be delighted to receive your application.??
  • Human-computer interaction: We seek fellows in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) who will explore Usability and Design questions under the areas of Work, Health and Sustainability & Society. Typically, HCI interns lead and conduct research studies (online or on the ground), usability studies, literature reviews, and design interventions.

• Students must be in their second year or beyond of their PhD program sometime between August 2022 – July 2023 having taken into account transfers, approved leaves of absence, etc.
• PhD students must continue to be enrolled at the university in the beginning of academic year 2023 or forfeit the award (i.e. entering their third year of beyond of their program).
• Fellowships are not available for extension. If you require time away for family or medical leave, this will be accommodated. If you are unsure if a particular need for time away will affect the award, you can contact Microsoft Research Fellowships at msfellow@microsoft.com.
• Payment of the award, as described above, will be made directly to the university and dispersed according to the university’s policies. Microsoft will have discretion as to how any remaining funds will be used if the student is no longer qualified to receive funding (e.g., if the student unenrolls from the program, graduates, or transfers to a different university).
• Funding is for use only during the recipient’s time in the PhD program; it cannot be used for support in a role past graduation, such as a postdoc or faculty position. Those interested in receiving this fellowship will need to confirm their PhD program starting month and year, as well as their expected graduation month and year.
• A recipient of the Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship subject to disciplinary proceedings for inappropriate behavior, including but not limited to discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), or plagiarism will forfeit their funding.
• PhD students submitting a proposal should be able to communicate about their research (both in writing and verbally) in English.

Benefits of Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship Program

• $15,000 USD is provided to help complete research as part of their doctoral thesis work for academic year 2022–23.
• Eligible recipients will be offered a 12-week paid internship with the Microsoft Africa Research Institute (MARI).
• Opportunities will be provided to build relationships with research teams at Microsoft and receive mentorship.

Timeline

• May 9 | Call for applications opens
• June 7 | Call for applications closes
• July 15 – Aug 12 | Selected candidates are invited for interviews
• August 19 | Selected candidates are notified of their fellowship offer by email
• September 28 | Fellowship recipients are announced publicly

Documents Required for Application

You will be asked to upload 3 documents:

Your curriculum vitae, thesis proposal or research statement, and one-page summary will be uploaded separately. Proposals must be submitted in English, and accepted formats are docx, doc, and pdf. Email or hard-copy submissions will not be considered. Name the individual files using the convention indicated below. Include your first name and last name as part of your file name each separated by an underscore (e.g. Jane_Smith_cv.docx).

• Curriculum vitae – file name: cv
• Thesis proposal or research statement (short and concise is recommended—no more than two pages including references with font no smaller than 10-point) – file name: thesis
• Summary of the above thesis proposal or research statement (no more than 150 words; font no smaller than 10-point) – file name: summary

How to Apply

Go to Microsoft on webportalapp.com to apply