SMART Graduate Fellowship

The Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) has a four-year fellowship scheme for new doctoral students at either Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University (SMU) or Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), who will conduct their research at the SMART Centre.

The Fellowship Programme is intended to attract to NTU, NUS, SMU and SUTD the best and most talented doctoral students from Singapore, the region and beyond, and educate them to be future leaders in science and technology for Singapore and beyond. The Fellowship will provide an opportunity to be involved in the strategic research programmes at the SMART Centre and provide the opportunity to be co-advised by an MIT faculty member. The student may spend up to six months doing research at MIT.

The SMART Graduate Fellowship provides:

up to four years of full tuition and school fees at the student's home university;
a monthly stipend of S$3,500 (and CPF for those who are eligible);
funds to support the expenses for a one-time research residency at MIT for up to six months;
and co-supervision by an MIT and NTU/NUS/SMU/SUTD faculty.

There is no bond associated with this fellowship.

Eligibility:A student must:

• have graduated with an undergraduate degree with first class or second-upper (or equivalent);
• be an incoming new PhD student not currently enrolled in a PhD programme;
• have a research interest that fits within one or more of the projects currently being carried out in a SMART Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG).

• BioSystems and Micromechanics (BioSyM)
• Future Urban Mobility (FM)
• Low Energy Electronic Systems (LEES)

Application:

 The application period for the August/September 2016 Intake: October 19, 2015 - December 18, 2015

SMART will send an email notification to the successful fellowship awardees on March 17, 2016 onwards. Please check with the University on the status of your application for admission.

Application Requirements

In order for your application to be reviewed by the Selection Committee, you must:

Fill out the Fellowship application form using the SMART portal. NOTE: The application form for the fellowship and admission to the university are separate and independent. Please visit the uiversity website for their admission form.

Provide a research statement based on your interest within the SMART IRG.

BioSystems and Micromechanics (BioSyM)
Future Urban Mobility (FM)
Low Energy Electronic Systems (LEES)

The application form contains the Referee Report page. Provide the name and institutional email address of two (2) academic referees. Your referee(s) must either be a faculty member from your undergraduate university or a faculty member from where you obtained your most recent degree. If you are currently employed, your principal investigator, senior academic advisor or supervisor can serve as your referee.

NOTE: Please contact your referees at least one (1) month prior to filling out the application form to ensure your referees have sufficient time to fill out the referee report form.

Once you fill this out, an auto-generated email will be sent to your referees asking them to fill out the form. Once your referee has completed the form, an automated email will be sent to you confirming receipt of your referee’s report. Recommendation letters will not be accepted in lieu of the referee report.

NTU/NUS/SMU/SUTD requires your referee to submit an online referee report form. The deadline to submit the form is December 18, 2015. Recommendation letters will NOT be accepted in lieu of the referee report.

If you are applying to NTU/NUS/SMU/SUTD, and choose to provide the same referee, your referee must fill out four (4) separate referee report forms; one (1) for NTU, one (1) for NUS, one (1) for SMU, and one (1) for SUTD.

NOTE: It is the student’s responsibility to inform their referees they must fill out four (4) separate forms.

Supporting documents (must be in English):
You must upload the following documents in the “Supporting Documentation” page. The files must be in PDF format and should be saved as an individual document, each not exceeding 6Mb. Failure to provide the documents below may render your application incomplete. Incomplete applications will NOT be reviewed by the Selection Committee.

A scanned copy of your academic transcript(s). If your transcript is not available, submit a copy of your degree audit or latest academic record. [Once you receive confirmation of your admission to the university, you will be required to submit a certified true copy of your transcript(s) directly to the university. Your transcript must be in English.]

GRE/GATE
If you are applying to NTU/NUS: Submit a copy of your GRE/GATE (or an equivalent) score.
GRE score is valid for 5 years and GATE score is valid for 2 years.

If you are applying to SUTD: GRE is required for Architecture and Sustainable Design (ASD), and Engineering Systems Design (ESD). Optional for Engineering Product Development (EPD), and Information Systems Technology Design (ISTD).

TOEFL/IELTS
Required if your native language is not English. TOEFL and IELTS score is valid for 2 years from the date you took the test.

[NOTE on items b and c: A student who received their undergraduate degree from NTU or NUS is exempt from this requirement.]

If you are scheduled to take the GRE/GATE/TOEFL/IELTS test after the application deadline, you must indicate the date of the test on your application.

Submit your score sheet(s) to SMA3@smart.mit.edu on or by December 18, 2015.

A scanned copy of your most recent passport-size photograph in JPEG format.

Optional:

Master/Degree certificate(s) or Diploma certificate(s);
Copies of awards (no more than 5);
A chronological list of research publications/journals, stating all the authors, titles, publishers/journals, first and last page number (DO NOT send copies of your publications);
Resume/CV/Biodata.
Guidelines for Awarding of PhD Graduate Fellowship

A student who applied to one university will only be considered for that university.
If the student is admitted to NTU, NUS, SMU or SUTD the student has the option to select the university through which to accept the PhD Graduate Fellowship.
If a student has identified more than one potential SMART IRG, the student has the option to select which IRG s/he would like to work for provided s/he have been awarded the fellowship to both IRGs.
If a student has more than one potential research advisor from SMART-NTU or SMART-NUS or SMART-SMU or SMART-SUTD, the student has the option to select the advisor provided the SMART-MIT advisor has a collaborator with that particular university.
A student who is not awarded a PhD Graduate Fellowship will be considered for other fellowships within the university provided that they indicated this on their application.
Process in place after the Awardees have been identified

SMART will notify the student who have been awarded the PhD Graduate Fellowship via email.
SMART will provide the Terms and Conditions of the Fellowship once the student provides proof of admission to the University.
The University will provide to the student the status of their admission. Students must contact the University directly.

Application Form

NTU Form

NUS Form

SMU Form

SUTD Form

August/September 2016 Intake

Application Period: October 19, 2015 to December 18, 2015

NTU Form NUS Form SMU Form SUTD Form

Timeline:

Deadline for referees to submit the referee report: December 18, 2015
GRE/GATE/TOEFL/IELTS score report submission deadline: December 18, 2015
Review Period: January 4, 2016 - March 16, 2016
Notification of Awardees by SMART: March 17, 2016 onwards

Contacts:
For inquiries regarding admission eligibility (including GRE/TOEFL requirement):
NTU: Admission_Research@ntu.edu.sg
NUS: gdhelp@nus.edu.sg
SMU: sis_phd@smu.edu.sg
SUTD: phd@sutd.edu.sg

For inquiries regarding the SMART PhD Fellowship (e.g. application procedures): SMA3@smart.mit.edu

 

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://smart.mit.edu/fellowships/sma3-graduate-fellowship/smart-graduate-fellowship.html