This page contains a list of some of the more popular fellowships and scholarships for our graduate students specializing in a wide range of computer science-related disciplines. However, it is not an exhaustive list, so certainly feel free to seek out opportunities on your own.

First off, 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.

Secondly, we encourage you to browse the Whiting School of Engineering’s webpage for graduate student fellowship and scholarship opportunities. They also maintain and regularly update a solid list of external fellowships/scholarships.

Popular fellowships/scholarships for our computer science PhD students

Ada Lovelace Fellowship

The Microsoft Research Ada Lovelace Fellowship aims to increase the pipeline of diverse talent receiving advanced degrees in computing-related fields by providing a research funding opportunity for doctoral students from groups underrepresented in computing. This is a limited submission fellowship, so direct applications from students are not accepted. You will need to submit through the Computer Science Academic Program Administrator. Please refer to the Ada Lovelace webpage for specific eligibility criteria/provisions of the award, as they can change from year to year.

  • Timeframe: application period usually opens in August (w/ an announcement from your academic department admin), and all application materials are typically due in early-October. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following academic year.

 

Facebook Fellowship 

The Facebook 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, and students should apply directly to Facebook! Please refer to the Facebook Research webpage for specific eligibility criteria/provisions of the award, as they can change from year to year.

  • Timeframe: 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.

 

Google PhD Fellowship

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 through the Computer Science Academic Program Administrator. Please refer to the Google Fellowship webpage FAQ for specific eligibility criteria/provisions of the award, as they can change from year to year: https://ai.google/research/outreach/faq/?category=phd

  • Timeframe: announcement (from your academic admin) of the open application period usually happens in mid-October, and all application materials are typically due to your department academic admin in mid-November. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following academic year.

 

IBM PhD Fellowship:

The IBM PhD Fellowship Program advances this collaboration by recognizing and supporting 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 through the Computer Science Academic Program Administrator. Please refer to the IBM Fellowship webpage FAQ for specific eligibility criteria/provisions of the award, as they can change from year to year: https://www.research.ibm.com/university/awards/phdfellowship.shtml#eligibility

  • Timeframe: announcement (from your academic admin) of the open application period usually happens in mid-September and all application materials are typically due to your department academic admin in mid-October. Once the department internal selection process concludes, the 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.

 

Link Foundation Fellowship

The Link Foundation Fellowship supports PhD students specializing in Modeling, Simulation, and Training. It was created to a.) Foster advanced level research in modeling, simulation, and training; b.) Enable Ph.D. students the freedom to work on their research full time; c.) Disseminate the results of that research through conferences, journals, and other publications. This is an unlimited submission fellowship, and students should apply directly to the Link Foundation! Please refer to the Link Foundation webpage for specific eligibility criteria/provisions of the award, as they can change from year to year: http://www.linksim.org/program_guidelines

  • Timeframe: application online submission usually opens around October 1 and closes around January 15. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following July.

 

Microsoft PhD Fellowship

The Microsoft 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 through the Computer Science Academic Program Administrator. Please refer to the Microsoft Fellowship webpage for specific eligibility criteria/provisions of the award, as they can change from year to year:

  • Timeframe: announcement (from your academic admin) of the open application period usually happens in early-September and all application materials are typically due to your department administrator in early-October. If awarded, the fellowship goes into effect the following academic year.

 

NDSEG Fellowship

The NDSEG Fellowship is sponsored and funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) 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 + 1st and 2nd year PhD students. This is an unlimited submission fellowship, and students should apply directly to NDSEG. Please refer to the NDSEG Fellowship webpage for specific eligibility criteria/provisions of the award, as they can change from year to year: https://www.ndsegfellowships.org/eligibility

  • Timeframe: application usually opens in early-September and closes in early-December. If awarded, the fellowship it goes into effect the following academic year. Prospective applicants are encouraged to check the NDSEG application page for exact submission protocols and deadlines.

 

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

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, and students should apply directly to the NSF Fellowship Program, via Fastlane. Please refer to the NSF Fellowship webpage for specific eligibility criteria/provisions of the award, as they can change from year to year: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18573/nsf18573.htm

  • Timeframe: 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 Program Solicitation page for exact submission protocols and deadlines.   

Vivien Thomas PhD Scholars

The Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative (VTSI) is dedicated to nurturing, mentoring and connecting the exceptional diverse talent that exists at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other minority serving institutions (MSIs) to STEM graduate education and future leadership in STEM careers.

VTSI Provides:

Exceptional Research Training: As the nation’s first research university and the nation’s leader in annual federal research funding for over 40 years, Hopkins is a great place to learn, do science, and grow in STEM. Our Hopkins faculty and students together do phenomenal research, giving rise to extraordinary discoveries that have positively transformed our nation and our globe. VTSI scholars will join one of our exceptional STEM PhD programs for their own graduate journey of discovery, working closely with the world’s leading scholars and scientists.

Excellent Advising and Mentorship: Providing students excellence in mentorship is an absolutely core value for our Hopkins graduate programs. VTSI scholars will work jointly under the guidance of outstanding STEM program faculty mentors and dedicated VTSI mentors alike, with whom VTSI scholars will meet regularly for individual check-ins and complementary advising, mentorship and sponsorship, all dedicated towards ensuring that VTSI scholars fully thrive personally and professionally along their journey at Hopkins and beyond.

Professional and Career Development Activities: The VTSI is fully committed to ensuring that as its scholars advance to take on the mantle of future leadership in STEM, that they are able to do so in ways in full alignment with their own individual life aspirations, fully attentive to their own internal voice. In synergy with Hopkins STEM graduate programs, the VTSI will provide and support professional, career, and experiential life design opportunities to provide a robust foundation for VTSI scholars to soar in their future STEM careers.

Community: Our Hopkins students are phenomenal in many ways – they do amazing science, their diverse histories, identities and life journeys bring exceptional community and much richness to the Hopkins space, and they are devoted in service to Baltimore, the broader national and global community, and those coming in the path behind. VTSI scholars will belong to and be embraced within this outstanding community of scholars at Hopkins. VTSI scholars also will come together regularly for dedicated VTSI social and community activities that will extend across the entire course of the Vivien Thomas STEM PhD scholar’s journey at Hopkins.

Benefits: Vivien Thomas PhD Scholars will receive an annual stipend plus full tuition, health and other benefits.

Who Should Apply

How to Apply

Vivien Thomas PhD Scholars Applicant Checklist:

  • Confirm you have attended a VTSI-eligible undergraduate institution.
  • Apply to the individual JHU PhD program.
  • Complete the VTSI Supplemental Application materials.
  • Submit both JHU PhD application and all VTSI supplemental materials by December 1, 2022.
  • Ensure your letters of recommendation are submitted by December 1.
  • Timeframe: To be considered for the VTSI, you must complete and submit all components of the individual PhD program application, and the VTSI supplemental components by December 1, 2022. All supporting materials including letters of recommendation also must be received by December 1.

 

The Percy Pierre Doctoral Fellowships

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 from underrepresented backgrounds 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 with access to a variety of special programming and mentoring opportunities

Eligible students will be considered automatically as part of their application. 

 

Siebel Scholarship

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 through your department academic administrator. Please refer to the Siebel Scholarship webpage for specific eligibility criteria/provisions of the award, as they can change from year to year.

  • Timeframe: announcement (from your academic admin) of the open application period usually happens in late-May and all application materials are typically due to your department administrator in mid-June. If awarded, the scholarship goes into effect the upcoming fall semester.

 

Computer Science Department [General Pool] Fellowship/Scholarship

This competitive scholarship is awarded to a prospective CS PhD student who has shown exceptional promise. The primary purpose is to provide an incoming student who possesses a broad set of interests the flexibility to work with multiple faculty members/lab groups in their first year. The Fellowship includes, full 1st-year tuition, fees, and stipend support for 12-months.

Incoming students cannot apply directly. Rather, it is a scholarship that is awarded to a particular student based on the recommendation of the CS Department Faculty and chosen by the CS PhD Faculty Admissions Committee.

 

Computer Science Graduate Achievement Scholarship

The CS Graduate Achievement Scholarship is an internally funded scholarship intended to support annual cost of living expenses + provide funds for travel and accommodations as it pertains to the awardee’s professional development.

It 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 CS Diversity Scholarship must remain in resident, full-time status and in good academic standing. So long as the student meets this criteria, they will receive the scholarship each academic year until their graduation from the CS PhD program.

Incoming students cannot apply directly for the CS Diversity Scholarship. Rather, it is a scholarship that 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.

 

Computational Cognition Vision and Learning (CCVL) Post-Doctoral Fellow

The goals of CCVL (Computational Cognition Vision and Learning) 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. CCVL consists of 20-30 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. It is part of the AI Vision Collective at JHU (members include Rama Chellappa and Vishal Patel), the Center for Language and Speech Processing (CLSP), and MINDS.

CCVL runs a summer internship program that involves 10-20 undergraduate interns. Postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to work with other research group members. CCVL has a strong record in publications at major conferences including CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICLR and NeurIPS with 12 papers at CVPR 2022 and 10 papers at ECCV 2022.

  • Timeframe: Positions are available now with an initial appointment for one year but with the possibility of extension. If interested, contact Alan Yuille with an attached CV, statement of interest, list of selection publications, and names of individuals who can provide recommendations.