Dear SCS Students and Faculty, Microsoft Research has announced the 2018-19 Ph.D Fellowship program. This prestigious fellowship is for two years, and covers tuition, stipend, travel allowance, and internship opportunity. See: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/phd-fellowship-program/ While they are interested in all areas that Microsoft does research in, this year's call particularly asks for proposals related to Systems & Networking and AI (including Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Robotics). THE PROCESS: SCS is allowed to nominate three (3) students. Faculty advisors in SCS (not students!) should send me nomination packets by *Noon on Friday, Sep 28, 2017*. Each faculty member may nominate at most one student. A committee of SCS faculty will evaluate submissions and nominate three students. WHO IS ELIGIBLE: Students must be in the second or third year of a Ph.D. program in the Fall 2016 semester, and may not receive another fellowship for the same period. The clock starts when you enroll in the Ph.D. program. HOW FACULTY SHOULD NOMINATE THEIR STUDENTS: Email your nomination packet to me by the noon *Friday, Sep 28*, with the header "Microsoft PhD Fellowship Application." The packet must include the following items in *PDF* format (late or incomplete packets won't be considered): 1) Student CV list when you started your Ph.D., advisor, publications, internships, achievements and awards, other useful things. Also list Primary and secondary research areas (from the list on MSR's webpage, or the attached image.) 2) One-page summary of their thesis proposal or research statement 3) Student thesis proposal or research statement (short and concise is recommended-no more than five pages). 4) Advisor letter 5) Up to two other letters (or at least names of other letter writers). If you can combine these into one PDF, I'll be extra thankful. :) But don't worry too much about it if you can't. Please also read other advice about your nomination below. Note: Faculty for the nominated students will need to provide me with the two additional letters, from other researchers, by NOON, Wed, Oct 11. ========================= Potentially useful tips: 0. Please read details about the fellowship on the Microsoft webpage above. In particular their FAQ answers many common questions. 1. Please make sure your statements are polished and substantial and easy to read. (Yes, you want it all!) The one-pager should be exciting to computer scientists even outside your area. The longer research statements should definitely be exciting to people in the area, and ideally to everyone. Be articulate and passionate about your work, and place it in context. If you make the first cut at MSR, they will call you for a second-round in-person interview, where the same passion and clarity and vision will be crucial. 2. Relate work to MSR's research, make concrete connections to projects and people. The call clearly says "The proposed research must be closely related to the research topics carried out by Microsoft Research as noted in the Research areas tab. We are particularly interested in proposals related to Systems & Networking and AI (including Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Robotics)." MSR *does* research in most areas of CS, so that not a problem per-se. But this verbiage emphasizes that they'd like to see connections to their work. 3. Send the other two letters in for the SCS deadline, if possible. Con: It is more work. Pro: it is more information that the SCS committee can use for its decision. Also, once written, these recommendation letters are easy to update for other contexts. But see what is best for you. 4. One nomination per advisor please. 5. Make sure your CV contains useful details like: year you started your PhD, who your advisor is, what are your areas of research interest, etc.) Google for "Writing a good academic CV" if you want opinions, or talk to your friends in senior years. 6. Please send me docs in PDF, by noon of the deadline. Thanks! ========================= -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Announcing the 2018 Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2017 23:10:49 +0000 From: Microsoft Research Fellowship Program To: Microsoft Research Fellowship Program We are excited to announce the eleventh year of the Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship program which aims to recognize, support, and mentor students as they continue their doctoral education in computer science, electrical engineering and mathematics, as well as interdisciplinary studies intersecting with those domains. This fellowship program is open to PhD students enrolled in their second or third year at universities in the Unied States and Canada. The program allows the chairs of computer science, electrical engineering and mathematics departments (or a department within the scope of these areas) to nominate students for the two-year fellowship which includes full coverage of tuition and fees, $28,000 stipend for living expenses, and $4,000 for travel and conferences each year. Fellows will also have the opportunity to intern with leading Microsoft researchers working on cutting-edge projects related to the recipient's field of study. The award committee is particularly interested in students working on theses related to AI (emphasizing the disciplines of Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Robotics) and Systems & Networking. Universities are encouraged to start preparing their applications now and submit them between October 2-16, 2017. You can read more about the Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship program and find application instructions on the program website. Also, check out our blog announcement. We hope you will help us spread the word about this year's program! We encourage you to share this announcement directly with your student and faculty contacts, on social media, and/or via topically relevant e-mail lists. Sincerely, Bill Dolan Principal Researcher and MSR PhD Fellowship Chair