PhD Scholarship Programme in EMEA
Each year, PhD supervisors from academic institutions in EMEA are invited to submit their proposals for collaborative research projects with Microsoft Research Cambridge. Applications are then peer reviewed and approximately 20 projects are selected for funding. PhD students are appointed to the selected projects and begin their research in the following academic year under the supervision of their academic supervisor, with co-supervision from a researcher at Microsoft Research Cambridge.
The Microsoft Research PhD Scholarship Programme in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) was launched in 2004 and has so far supported more than 200 PhD students from more than 18 countries and 51 institutions.
During the course of their PhD, Scholars are invited to Microsoft Research in Cambridge for a PhD Summer School that includes a series of talks of academic interest and posters sessions, which provides the Scholars the opportunity to present their work to Microsoft researchers and a number of Cambridge academics.
Some of the Scholars may also be offered—at the sole discretion of Microsoft Research—an internship in one of the Microsoft Research laboratories. Internships involve working on a project alongside and as part of a team of Microsoft researchers. Scholars are paid during their internship—in addition to their scholarship bursary. Interested Scholars can apply through the Microsoft Research careers page.
Current schedule
| For the application process: | |
| Online submission tool open: | 1st September 2016 |
| Application deadline: | 26th September 2016 |
| Notification of results: | Stage 1 ~ By the end of October 2016 |
| Stage 2 ~ By the end of December 2016 | |
| For successful applicants: | |
| PhD Agreements sent to Institutes by: | 31st January 2017 |
| Signed PhD Agreements returned to MSR via Docusign by: | 30th June 2017 |
| PhD students to be appointed by: | 31st March 2018 |
Eligibility criteria
Applications must not be made by students but by PhD supervisors, who must have been in dialogue with the prospective Microsoft supervisor and jointly collaborated on the proposal prior to the submission deadline. If their project is selected, the supervisor has until 31 March 2018 to find the best possible student for the project; otherwise, the PhD Agreement will be terminated automatically. Only applications from institutions in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will be considered.
Application process
2017 PhD Scholarship Application
The online application form is now available via this link to submit your research proposals, submissions will close on 26 September 2016.
Applications must be submitted by academic institutions, such as from a PhD supervisor or departmental secretary. We do not accept applications from students directly. Applications are on a competitive basis and we anticipate a high level of demand for scholarships (the average selection rate is approximately 20 percent).
Selection process
A two-stage evaluation process will be implemented for all eligible applications.
- Stage 1: Applications will be reviewed and those that meet the basic selection criteria will go through to stage 2 for comprehensive review. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified by the end of October 2016, but will not receive detailed feedback.
- Stage 2: Applications are sent for comprehensive review to Microsoft internal reviewers only. Ranking depends on review feedback. Other factors, such as relevance to Microsoft research topics, are taken into account for the selection of approximately 20 applications. Detailed feedback will be given to all stage 2 proposals.
Decisions are made solely at the discretion of Microsoft Research and all decisions are final.
Applicants (PhD supervisors) have until 31st March 2018 to propose the best and most suitable student possible to carry out the proposed research project.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/phd-scholarship-europe-middle-east-africa/