Fellowships
Fellowships Requiring Faculty Nominations
These fellowships typically come from industry and are open to both international and domestic students. Students cannot apply to these directly, though it can still be helpful to know about them so students can discuss with their advisor(s). Some of these put candidates through a post-nomination interview process, while others are awarded with no student involvement whatsoever.
2025-2026 Industry Fellowship Nomination Timeline & Process
Allen School faculty are invited to nominate their students for competitive industry fellowships annually. Each one operates on a different timeline, so the Allen School’s internal selection process occurs on a rolling basis through summer and fall as each company announces their timeline and process. The calls for internal nominations are made via email to the Allen School faculty mailing list and are reviewed by an internal fellowship selection committee. The Director of Graduate Student Services will submit the nominations on behalf of the Allen School and UW, unless instructions specify otherwise.
Students who believe they may be a competitive nominee should speak to their advisor(s) directly about being nominated.
| Fellowship Name | Internal Nominations Open to Faculty | Internal Nomination Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Scholars in AI/ML | July 29, 2024 | August 19, 2024 |
| Google Ph.D. Fellowship | TBA – likely winter/spring 2025 | TBA – likely winter/spring 2025 |
| IBM Ph.D. Fellowship | August 12, 2024 | August 19, 2024 |
| JP Morgan AI Research Ph.D. Fellowship | ON HOLD | ON HOLD |
| Microsoft Research Ph.D. Fellowship | ON HOLD | ON HOLD |
Questions about the internal nomination process can be directed to the Director of Graduate Student Services (Elise Dorough, elised@cs.washington.edu).
Fellowships Requiring Applications
These are all national, well-known fellowships. In most cases (but not all – the Hertz is available to upper-years as well) students are eligible to apply during their senior year as an undergraduate, or at the beginning of their first or second year in graduate school. These all follow the same application format: 3-4 essays, transcripts, resume or awards list, 3 letters of recommendation, and a research proposal. Don’t worry– typically they don’t expect students to follow their proposal, they just want to see that students can think logically about problems in the field. Also, it’s perfectly fine to get recommendations from both undergraduate and graduate programs (internships/summer jobs/research labs are another good source for these).
- AAUW
- CSGF
- DOE Graduate Student Research Program
- Facebook Fellowship Program
- Ford Foundation Fellowship – Dissertation Fellowships also available
- Google Anita Borg Scholarship
- Hertz
- NASA Graduate Student Research Program
- NDSEG
- NSF
- NSPIRES
- NPSC
- NVIDIA
- Qualcomm
- Soros
- Symantec
Allen School Fellowships
There are quite a number of endowed fellowships that come from or through the Allen School. These include several “CSE fellowships” for first-year students. These don’t require applications and for the most part are offered to recruit prospective students during graduate admissions.
Nationally Competitive Awards
National Science Foundation Fellowship
The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The 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 US institutions. The NSF welcomes applications from all qualified students and strongly encourages under-represented populations, including women, under-represented racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities, to apply for this fellowship.
Students apply directly for the NSF awards, which include 12-month stipends, tuition and fees. The awards are given for three years of study.
NDSEG (Department of Defense) Fellowship
The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship is a highly competitive, portable fellowship that is awarded to U.S. citizens and nationals who intend to pursue a doctoral degree in one of fifteen supported disciplines. NDSEG confers high honors upon its recipients, and allows them to attend whichever U.S. institution they choose. NDSEG Fellowships last for three years and pay for full tuition and all mandatory fees, a monthly stipend, and up to $1,000 a year in medical insurance.
Students apply directly for this award.
Scholarships & Other Fellowships
Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship
The Google Anita Borg Scholarship was first launched in 2004 when a group of Googlers decided to establish a program that would honor the work of their friend and colleague Dr. Anita Borg. Since 2004, the program has expanded to include women in Canada, Australia, New Zealand,Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Google is proud to recognize the alumnae of the Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship program. We celebrate their accomplishments and contributions to the technology field.
ARCS Fellowship
A Seattle Chapter ARCS Foundation Fellowship is an opportunity to contribute to America’s scientific and economic future by supporting the best and brightest of our nation’s science and engineering graduate students, whose rigorous academic endeavors and cutting-edge research are opening pathways to scientific discoveries that will benefit our state, our nation and our world.
The CSE department receives a number of ARCS Fellowships each year, and these awards are used for recruiting prospective graduate students. The Graduate Admissions Committee determines recipients.
Microsoft Research Graduate Women’s Scholarship
The Microsoft Research Graduate Women’s Scholarship is a one-year scholarship program for outstanding women graduate students and is designed to help increase the number of women pursuing a PhD. This program supports women in the second year of their graduate studies. Women who are interested in this scholarship must apply during first year of graduate studies. Scholarships are granted by Microsoft Research at the discretion of Microsoft.
Microsoft Recruitment Award
One part of the department’s Microsoft endowment is this Microsoft Recruitment Fund. This is to be used as a recruiting bonus for a particularly outstanding prospective student, an award based solely on merit.
UW College of Engineering Fellowships
The College of Engineering makes awards available to departments, and departments make nominations of specific students for the awards. There are several different awards available including the Gray, Boeing, and Osberg..