Microsoft EMEA PhD Award

The 2020 Microsoft Research EMEA PhD Award submission period closes on April 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM UTC (April 1, 2020 at 4:59 PM PST).

Microsoft actively seeks to foster greater levels of diversity in our workforce and in our pipeline of future researchers. We are always looking for the best and brightest talent and celebrate individuality. We invite candidates to come as they are and do what they love.

Provisions of the award

• Award recipients will receive $15,000 USD for the academic year 2020–21 to help them complete research as part of their doctoral thesis work.
• Microsoft will arrange and pay for travel and accommodations for award recipients to attend the PhD Summit. The two-day workshop is held at one of the Microsoft Research labs in the fall. It will provide award recipients an opportunity to present their research, meet with Microsoft researchers in their research area and receive career coaching.
• Award recipients will be offered an internship at Microsoft Research’s Cambridge lab.

Eligibility criteria

• Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Students should support this mission and embrace opportunities to foster diverse and inclusive cultures within their communities.
• PhD students must be enrolled at a university in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) and their research must be closely related to our research themes at Microsoft Research Cambridge:
  • All Data AI
  • Cloud Infrastructure
  • Confidential Computing
  • Future of Work
  • Game Intelligence
  • Healthcare Intelligence
  • Biological Computation

• PhD students must be in their third year or beyond in a PhD program to qualify for this award. Funding is for use only during their time in the PhD program; it cannot be used for support in a role past graduation, such as a postdoc or faculty position. Those interested in receiving this award will need to confirm their PhD program starting month and year, as well as their expected graduation month and year.
• Payment of the award, as described above, will be made directly to the award recipient’s university and dispersed according to the university’s policies.
• PhD students submitting a proposal should be able to communicate about their research (both in writing and verbally) in English.
• Microsoft Research EMEA PhD Award recipients subject to disciplinary proceedings for inappropriate behaviour, including but not limited to discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), or plagiarism will forfeit their funding.

For more information and How to apply, please visit:

EMEA PhD Award