Microsoft Research Dissertation Scholarship Grant

Applications for 2019 will be opening soon

Microsoft Research Dissertation scholarship grant is intended for students from the underrepresented minorities in computer science/engineering. The grant  was designed to help recipients  complete research as part of their doctoral thesis work.Included in this grant is a fully funded trip to US to  attend a two-day Microsoft Research workshop in Redmond, Washington.

The workshop will provide grant recipients an opportunity to present their research, meet individually with Microsoft researchers in their research area and receive career coaching from Microsoft researchers. Successful applicants will receive up to $25,000 in funding.

Read Other Microsoft Scholarships

Eligibility criteria for the Microsoft Research Dissertation Scholarship Grant

• PhD students must be enrolled at a university in the United States or Canada and doing dissertation work that relates to computing topics in which Microsoft Research has expertise (click on Research Areas at the top of the page for a full list).
• PhD students must be in their fourth year or beyond in a PhD program when they apply for this grant. The student must continue to be enrolled at the university in the current year of the application.
• It is important for interested applicants to note that the “funding is for use only during their time in the PhD program; it cannot be used for support in a role past graduation, such as a postdoc or faculty position”. The applicant will need to confirm their PhD program starting month and year, as well as their expected graduation month and year.
• Payment of the grant, as described above, will be made directly to the grant recipient’s university and dispersed according to the university’s policies.

How to apply

Application rules may change for any given year but generally, the following are the core expectations an dall applications must be made ONLINE

• PhD students must apply directly for the grant.
• Applications must include:
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Thesis topic description (maximum two pages including references, font no smaller than 10-point)
  • Description of how the grant would be used, including a budget (maximum one page)
  • Month and year you entered the PhD Program and your expected graduation date
  • Primary area of research (click on Research Areas at the top of the page for a full list)
  • Contact information for three references who are established researchers familiar with your research (at least one of which must be from your primary academic advisor/supervisor and only one letter can be from a current Microsoft employee). Microsoft will automatically provide instructions and request a reference letter from each of your three reference contacts separately as you submit your application. Those auto-generated emails will be sent from Microsoft CMT “noreply@msr-cmt.org”, which may end up in your spam folder.
  • 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.
  • Incomplete applications will not be considered.
    

    If you have any questions, please contact Microsoft using the contact below

    Please direct any questions to:

    msrgrant@microsoft.com
    Microsoft Research
    One Microsoft Way, 99/4719
    Redmond, WA 98052