The Microsoft Research PhD Scholarship Programme in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa).

Application Deadline:  26 September 2013

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 across the region.

Each year by September, PhD supervisors from academic institutions in EMEA 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.

Eligibility Criteria

Only PhD supervisors should apply. If their project is selected, the supervisor has up to one year to find the best possible student for the project. We usually consider only one application per university department or per laboratory of a national research institution. Only applications from institutions in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will be considered. For an application to be considered, the proposed research must be closely related to the research carried out at Microsoft Research in Cambridge. These research topics are:

• Computational Science
• Computer-Mediated Living
• Constraint Reasoning
• Machine Learning and Perception
• Online Services and Advertising
• Programming Principles and Tools
• Cambridge Systems and Networking

A Microsoft researcher will be assigned to each project as co-supervisor.

Application Process

Applications are on a competitive basis and we anticipate a high level of demand for scholarships (the average selection rate is approximately 20 percent).

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 should contain the following:
  • An online application form that includes contact details of supervisor(s) and possible reviewers.
    Ideally, one of the suggested reviewers should be from Microsoft Research. If no suitable Microsoft researcher can be identified, it may mean that the proposed research project is too far from our areas of interest.
  • A project proposal of maximum six (6) A4 pages in 10-point font, including references.
    Accepted formats: plain text (.txt), .pdf, or Microsoft Office Word (.doc or .docx) only.
• The research project proposal should address the following points:
  • Evidence that the research supervisor would be suitable to supervise a PhD student for the proposed research project.
    This may include a short list of the supervisor’s recent and relevant publications. Please consider including the URLs of the publications to make it easier for reviewers to find them.
  • Evidence that the department or laboratory offers a suitable environment for research in the proposed area.
  • Basis for the research (motivations and brief state-of-the-art, including key references).
  • Hypothesis under investigation and main aims.
  • Research strategy with significant milestones if identified.
  • Methods of research (for example, main techniques, experiments, and trials).
  • Details of any collaboration with other departments/research bodies.
  • Expected outcomes (for example, software tools).

Applications must be complete, submitted online, and received by the announced deadline to be considered. Proposals received after this deadline will not be considered.

Applications Starts on 1 September 2013.

Access the online application tool