The Microsoft Research European PhD Scholarship Programme is aimed at recognising and supporting exceptional students who show the potential to make an outstanding contribution to science.

The programme will support students in computing and those working at the intersection of computing and the sciences, including biology, chemistry and physics.

Eligibility

Any European national student who has been accepted by a university in Europe to start a PhD or who will have completed no more than one year of their PhD by October 2006, is eligible. Non European national students: please see our FAQ.

Application process

Applications are on a competitive basis and we anticipate a high level of demand for scholarships. We are unable to accept applications from students directly: applications will only be accepted through a student's Institution (e.g., supervisor, departmental secretary, etc.) and we will usually only consider one application per university department or per laboratory of a national research institution. We will consider no more than one application per supervisor. Joint applications by two supervisors from different disciplines are encouraged, but not essential.

Following receipt of such applications, each will be carefully reviewed by researchers from universities and from Microsoft Research and the best applicants will be awarded a Scholarship.

Completed application form must be submitted online by 19 April 2006. Letters of recommendation (see below) must also be received by 19 April 2006.

When a student has already been identified, two strong letters of recommendation (preferably not from the supervisor) should be emailed to msrphd@microsoft.com, or faxed to +44 1223 479 999, or alternatively, posted to Dr Fabien Petitcolas, Microsoft Research, 7 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0FB, UK. Awards will be made by 1 July 2006. Applications must be complete and received by the deadline to be considered.  Proposals received after this deadline will not be considered. All information contained on applications shall be considered by Microsoft to be non-confidential.

Applications for PhD scholarships in a university of the Republic of Ireland should be made through the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology as a result of an agreement with them.

Decisions will be made solely at the discretion of Microsoft Research and all decisions are final. Typically, proposals will be reviewed by a committee of experts and non-experts. By submitting a proposal, the applicant agrees that Microsoft Research has the sole right to make award decisions. Proposals submitted to Microsoft Research will not be returned. Universities should not submit information that is confidential, restricted or sensitive in any way and Microsoft Research will assume no responsibility for protecting or disclosing any such information, once submitted.

The terms of the agreement between successful applicants and their university with Microsoft Research has been developed over the course of the last few years with input from numerous research organisations around Europe to ensure that they are appropriate and equitable.

Awards

Each student will be awarded a bursary of up to 30,000 euros per year up to a maximum of three years. The award will be made automatically the following years after the first one, provided the student meets the requirements of the university. In addition, every student will receive a Tablet PC with a range of software applications.

At the end of the second year of their PhD, some of the students who are awarded a scholarship may be offered in Microsoft Research's sole discretion an internship at Microsoft Research Cambridge during the summer. Internships will involve working on a real project at Microsoft Research alongside and as part of a team of Microsoft researchers. Students will be paid during their internship on top of their scholarship bursary.

Current and past scholars

We maintain the list of students who have been awarded the Microsoft Research European PhD scholarship.

Contact

If you have questions which are not answered in our FAQ, please contact msrphd@microsoft.com.

Reference:
http://research.microsoft.com/ero/icd/phd/