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Application Deadline: October 8th 2018

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 a number of projects 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.

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.

Eligibility criteria

Applications must not be made by students but by PhD supervisors, who must have been nominated by Microsoft Research prior to the submission deadline. If their project is selected, the supervisor has until 31 March 2020 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.

For an application to be considered, the following key requirements apply:

1. The institute agrees to the terms and conditions in the PhD Term Sheet and EPSRC Term Sheet where appropriate and there will be no negotiation once the selections have been made and communicated.
2. Applicants must be nominated by a Microsoft supervisor by 1st September 2018 to be eligible to submit an application.
3. The proposed research must be closely related to our research ambitions at Microsoft Research in Cambridge:

• • Artificial Intelligence
  • Infrastructure for the Cloud
  • The Future of Work
  • Biological Computation

This year, we are particularly interested in proposals related to:

• Machine Learning for Healthcare
• Optics in the Cloud (networking, storage and compute)
• Confidential Computation
• Designing AI for Human Partnership

Benefits:

• Microsoft scholarships consist of an annual bursary up to a maximum of three years for PhD supervisors and students to do collaborative research projects with Microsoft Research Cambridge.
• The monetary value of the award varies by country to reflect local differences in costs and overheads. Payment is made directly to the institution. The amount of the scholarship is the maximum amount Microsoft Research pays to the institution. In addition, every Scholar receives a fixed hardware allowance and conference allowance.

Selection process

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.

Decisions are made solely at the discretion of Microsoft Research and all decisions are final.

Applicants (PhD supervisors) have until 31st March 2020 to propose the best and most suitable student possible to carry out the proposed research project.

Timeline:

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Microsoft Research PhD Scholarship Programme 2019