This page contains a list of some of the more popular fellowships and scholarships available to graduate students specializing in a wide range of computer-science-related disciplines. This is not an exhaustive list, however, so certainly feel free to seek out opportunities on your own.
Be sure to explore the JHU Research Office’s webpage for Graduate Student Funding Opportunities. They maintain and regularly update a fairly comprehensive list of fellowships and scholarships.
We also encourage you to browse the Whiting School of Engineering’s page for graduate student fellowship and scholarship opportunities. They also maintain and regularly update a solid list of external fellowships and scholarships.
External Scholarships & Fellowships
The Google PhD Fellowship Program was created to recognize outstanding graduate students doing exceptional work in computer science and related research areas. This is a limited submission fellowship, so direct applications from students are not accepted. You will need to submit your application through the department’s academic program manager. Please refer to the Google Fellowship FAQ for specific eligibility criteria and award provisions, as they may change from year to year.
Timeframe: The announcement (from your academic program manager) of the open application period usually happens in mid-October. All application materials are typically due to your department program manager in mid-November. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following academic year.
The IBM PhD Fellowship Awards recognize and support exceptional PhD students who want to make their mark in promising and disruptive technologies. This is a limited submission fellowship, so direct applications from students are not accepted. You will need to submit your application through the department’s academic program manager. Please refer to the IBM PhD Fellowship Awards FAQ for specific eligibility criteria and award provisions, as they may change from year to year.
Timeframe: The announcement (from your academic manager) of the open application period usually happens in mid-September and all application materials are typically due to your department academic manager in mid-October. Once the department’s internal selection process concludes, chosen applications must be submitted directly to IBM by the student’s faculty advisor. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following academic year.
The Link Foundation Fellowship supports PhD students specializing in modeling, simulation, and training. The fellowship was created to foster advanced-level research in modeling, simulation, and training; enable PhD students the freedom to work on their research full-time; and to disseminate the results of that research through conferences, journals, and other publications. This is an unlimited submission fellowship, so students should apply directly to the Link Foundation. Please refer to the Link Foundation’s website for specific eligibility criteria and award provisions, as they may change from year to year.
Timeframe:The online application submission usually opens around October 1 and closes around January 15. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following July.
The Meta Emerging Scholars Fellowship Program is designed to encourage and support promising doctoral students who are engaged in innovative and relevant research in areas related to computer science and engineering at an accredited university. This is an unlimited submission fellowship, so students should apply directly to Meta. Please refer to the fellowship website for specific eligibility criteria and award provisions, as they may change from year to year.
Timeframe: The application period usually opens in mid-August and all application materials are typically due in early October. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following academic year.
The Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship is a two-year fellowship for PhD students at North American universities pursuing research aligned to the research topics carried out by Microsoft Research. This is a limited submission fellowship, so direct applications from students are not accepted. You will need to submit your application through the department’s academic program manager. Please refer to their fellowship website for specific eligibility criteria and award provisions, as they may change from year to year.
Timeframe: The application period usually opens in August or early September (announced by your academic department manager) and all application materials are typically due in early October. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following academic year.
The NDSEG Fellowship is sponsored and funded by the Department of Defense under the direction of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Engineering, Director of Basic Engineering. The NDSEG Fellowship is available to bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients and 1st and 2nd year PhD students. This is an unlimited submission fellowship, so students should apply directly to NDSEG. Please refer to the NDSEG Fellowship FAQ for specific eligibility criteria and award provisions, as they may change from year to year.
Timeframe: The application usually opens in early September and closes in early December. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following academic year. Prospective applicants are encouraged to check the NDSEG website for exact submission protocols and deadlines.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. This is an unlimited submission fellowship, so students should apply directly to the NSF Fellowship Program via Research.gov. Please refer to the NSF Fellowship website for specific eligibility criteria and award provisions, as they may change from year to year.
Timeframe: The application deadline is usually in mid-October. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following academic year. Prospective applicants are encouraged to check GRFP Solicitation for exact submission protocols and deadlines.
Internal Scholarships & Fellowships
The Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative (VTSI) is an endowed fellowship program at Johns Hopkins for PhD students in STEM fields. It provides full tuition, stipend, and benefits while also providing targeted mentoring, networking, community, and professional development opportunities. Students who have attended eligible institutions—including historically Black colleges and universities, community colleges, and regional institutions in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia for undergraduate study—are eligible to apply. More information about the VTSI program is available here.
To be considered for the VTSI, all components of the PhD program application, including the VTSI supplemental components, must be completed by December 1, 2025. All supplementary application material, including letters of recommendation, must also be received by December 1.
Percy Pierre knows how it feels to be a pioneer; when he received his PhD at Johns Hopkins in 1967, he became the first African American in the nation to earn a doctorate in electrical engineering.
To honor this legacy, the Whiting School of Engineering has established the Percy Pierre Doctoral Fellowships. These awards recognize outstanding incoming graduate students who will contribute both to the intellectual life of their departments and to that of the broader graduate community.
The fellowships will provide recipients with competitive monthly stipends, tuition, health insurance, and fees for the first two years of graduate school and access to a variety of special programming and mentoring opportunities
Eligible students will be considered automatically as part of their application.
JHU Homewood’s program is one of few similar programs in the world recognized by the Siebel Scholars Foundation for groundbreaking research, excellence in education, and high caliber of students. JHU offers five single-year awards for students in bioengineering fields who are at the top of their class based on academic results (including research), demonstrate excellence in terms of leadership qualities in the school community and in experience prior to graduate program, and have completed at least one year at the school and are reasonably expected to have only one year remaining.
This is a limited submission scholarship, so direct applications from students are not accepted. You will need to submit your application through your department’s academic manager. Please refer to the Siebel Scholarship website for specific eligibility criteria and award provisions, as they may change from year to year.
Timeframe: The announcement (from your academic program manager) of the open application period usually happens in late May and all application materials are typically due to your department program manager mid-June. If awarded, the scholarship goes into effect the upcoming fall semester.
This competitive scholarship is awarded to a prospective CS PhD student who has shown exceptional promise. The primary purpose of this scholarship is to provide an incoming student who possesses a broad set of interests the flexibility to work with multiple faculty members and lab groups in their first year. The scholarship includes full first-year tuition, fees, and stipend support for 12 months.
Incoming students cannot apply directly. This scholarship is awarded to a particular student based on the recommendation of the CS Department faculty and chosen by the CS PhD faculty admissions committee.
The CS Graduate Achievement Scholarship is an internally funded scholarship intended to support annual cost of living expenses and provide funds for travel and accommodations as it pertains to the awardee’s professional development.
It is awarded to a newly admitted CS PhD student who has overcome significant socioeconomic barriers and/or is a first-generation graduate student. The recipient of the scholarship must remain in resident, full-time status and in good academic standing. So long as the student meets these criteria, they will receive the scholarship each academic year until their graduation from the CS PhD program.
Incoming students cannot apply directly for this scholarship. It is awarded to a particular student based on the recommendation of the CS department chair and the CS PhD faculty admissions committee. The scholarship may not be awarded every year.
The goals of the Computational Cognition Vision and Learning (CCVL) research group are to develop mathematical and computational AI models of vision and its relations to other cognitive abilities, including language. These models should ideally have the same abilities as humans, including the capability of building models of the 3D world. The CCVL group consists of 20–30 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.
The CCVL group runs a summer internship program that involves 10–20 undergraduate interns. Postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to work with other research group members. The CCVL group has a strong record of publications at major conferences, including CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICLR, and NeurIPS, with twelve papers at CVPR 2022 and ten papers at ECCV 2022.
Timeframe: Positions are available now with an initial appointment for one year, with the possibility of extension. If interested, contact Alan Yuille with an attached CV, statement of interest, list of selected publications, and the names of individuals who can provide recommendations.