Microsoft Research Fellowship 2026
- Omran Aburayya
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
If you are an early-career or mid-career academic researcher seeking to collaborate with a leading industrial research lab and help shape the future of technology, the Microsoft Research Fellowship 2026 presents a compelling opportunity. The applications are now open, and this fellowship is designed to enable scholars — from PhD students and post-docs to faculty — to partner with Microsoft Research on open research challenges that advance science, drive innovation, and deliver societal benefit. Here's everything you need to know.
🎓 Fellowship Summary
Location: Global – open to institutions in Africa; Australia & New Zealand; Canada; Europe; India; Hong Kong; Japan; South Korea; Singapore; Taiwan; Argentina; Brazil; Chile; Colombia; Mexico; Puerto Rico; United States.
Host institution: Microsoft Research (via collaboration with academic institution of fellow)
Target group:
PhD students enrolled at accredited universities in the listed regions.
Post-doctoral researchers employed or enrolled in universities in the listed regions.
Faculty (Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors) with a terminal degree (PhD, DSc, etc.) in eligible regions.
Fields of Focus: Multi-disciplinary, spanning artificial intelligence, systems, theory, other sciences (ecology, environment, social sciences, genomics), human-computer interaction, data platforms and analytics, security, privacy, and more.
Value: Unrestricted gift (one-time payment) to the institution of the fellow. Amount depends on region:
Africa / Australia & New Zealand / Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico) / India / Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan: US $17,000
Europe: US $27,000
Canada / United States: US $47,000
The amount includes travel funding to support in-person collaboration with Microsoft Research labs.
Schedule: The collaboration spans from approximately February 2026 to June 2027
Application deadline: by December 2, 2025
Start date / eligible to: Selected Fellows notified by February 2, 2026.
🌐 Fellowship Overview
The Microsoft Research Fellowship seeks to create meaningful academic-industrial collaborations. Fellowship recipients will partner with Microsoft Research principal investigators and labs around the world, working on “open research challenges” that combine deep domain expertise from academia with the applied research and infrastructure strength of Microsoft Research.
The program scope is broad: from foundational AI systems (e.g., multimodal reasoning, retrieval, robotics), human-AI collaboration and interaction, to social sciences (e.g., misinformation, global AI for the majority) and scientific modelling.
Collaboration formats may include working sessions, workshops, regular check-ins, asynchronous work, all tailored according to the research challenge.
🎁 Benefits
The fellowship award is unrestricted: funds are given as a gift to the institution (not a salary or employment contract) and may support travel and other research-collaboration expenses.
Opportunity to collaborate directly with Microsoft Research researchers and labs, gaining industry-scale resources, access to global research infrastructure, and cross-disciplinary partnerships.
High visibility: being named a Microsoft Research Fellow may strengthen your research profile and network.
Flexibility: the award allows concurrent funding from other organizations (i.e., the fellowship does not restrict you from other support) according to FAQ.
The payment is made to the institution in March/April 2026 (for the 2026 cohort) and overhead/indirect costs are not required to be returned or accounted for in detail.
✅ Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be affiliated with a degree-granting university in one of the eligible regions (Africa; Australia & New Zealand; Canada; Europe; India; Hong Kong; Japan; South Korea; Singapore; Taiwan; Argentina; Brazil; Chile; Colombia; Mexico; Puerto Rico; United States).
PhD students: must be actively pursuing a PhD at such a university and may submit proposals on their own behalf.
Post-docs: must be employed or enrolled at a degree-granting university in the eligible regions and the proposal must include support from a faculty advisor or department chair.
Faculty: must hold a terminal degree (e.g., PhD, DSc) and submit on their behalf; proposals must identify a student collaborator; both faculty and student must be from eligible institutions/regions.
Proposals must align with one of the defined research challenges listed by Microsoft Research. Each challenge may have additional eligibility specifics (e.g., some challenges may be open only to faculty, or only to PhD students).
Note: Fellows will be subject to background screening; inappropriate conduct (discrimination, harassment, plagiarism) will lead to forfeiture of funding.
📝 Application Procedure
Applicants should select one of the research challenges defined on Microsoft Research’s “Research challenges” tab. Ensure your proposal clearly aligns with the challenge’s goals and criteria.
Proposals are submitted via the online submission portal (email submissions will not be accepted).
The Statement of Interest must be no more than three pages in length (minimum 10-point font, margins at least 1 inch). A fourth page may be used for citations and references.
Up to three distinct proposals may be submitted (if eligible) for different research challenges — but if selected you may participate in only one fellowship.
The institution’s finance liaison will coordinate with Microsoft to receive the award funds in March/April 2026.
Upon acceptance, the fellowship collaboration begins (February 2026) and continues until June 2027.
👌🏻 Tips for Applicants
Alignment is key: Carefully review each research challenge and ensure your proposed work clearly aligns with the stated goals and ideal collaborator descriptions.
Highlight cross-disciplinary strengths: The fellowship emphasises interdisciplinary innovation (e.g., combining technical method with societal context) — emphasise how your background and planned work bridge domains.
Leverage your institution’s support: For faculty and post-docs, ensure you identify the student collaborator (or faculty advisor) and secure institutional support early.
Provide evidence of research excellence: The review considers research accomplishments, impact potential, and alignment with the challenge. Demonstrate your achievements (publications, modelling, analytics, collaborations).
Plan for collaboration logistics: Since travel to Microsoft labs may be part of the collaboration, reflect how you will use the interaction (e.g., joint prototypes, visits, workshops) and ensure your institution can facilitate the gift payment.
Use the allowed length and formatting strictly: The statement of interest must follow page limits and formatting guidelines — failure to comply may eliminate your proposal.
Think strategically about multiple submissions: If considering submitting proposals to up to three challenges, ensure each is distinct and well tailored; but prepare for only one fellowship if selected.
✨ This fellowship offers a remarkable opportunity for researchers globally to connect with Microsoft Research’s global labs, work on cutting-edge open research challenges, and accelerate both academic and applied innovation.