The Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship is a global program that identifies and empowers the next generation of exceptional computing research talent. “Microsoft recognizes the value of diversity in computing and aims to increase the pipeline of talent receiving advanced degrees in computing-related fields to build a stronger and inclusive computing-related research community.” Over the last two decades, this program has supported over 700 fellows around the world, many of whom have gone on to work at Microsoft. Others have gone on to perform pioneering research elsewhere within the technology industry or accept faculty appointments at leading universities. Timeline for US and Canadian based fellowships Nominations from the university will close Wednesday, June 30, […]

Nominations are open for the 2021 Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship through February 22, 2021. Eligible faculty will then be contacted in early March to submit their proposals by March 29, 2021. The Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship recognizes emerging leaders in the field of computing who have exceptional talent for research and innovation. Qualifying faculty must have received their terminal degree in May 2016 or later, and their research must be closely related to the general research areas carried out by Microsoft Research. These full-time faculty members must also conduct research, advise graduate students, and teach in the classroom in North or South America. Provisions of the award include $100,000 USD […]

The cloud computing partnership between the Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs (BD Hubs) and Microsoft Research has just passed the one-year anniversary mark. In June 2016, Microsoft dedicated $3 million in cloud computing credits to support the BD Hubs and the associated Big Data Spokes (BD Spokes) projects. The four Big Data Hubs – split by region into Northeast, South, Midwest, and West – apply data science resources to address regional challenges like agriculture, healthcare, and smart cities. Each Hub is partnered with a set of Spokes, multi-sector teams that focus on research themes with real world impact. The cloud computing credits were given to the hubs as part of the Microsoft Azure for Research […]

It was just announced that Eric Horvitz, former Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council member and current Co-Chair of the AI and Robotics Task Force, is the new head of Microsoft Research. Yesterday, it was announced that Jeannette Wing was leaving to lead Columbia’s Data Science Institute. Horvitz has long been a leading voice in AI safety and ethics. Recently, he announced the new Partnership on AI that consists of a consortium including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Facebook, and IBM. The goal of the partnership is to bring industry together to talk about the use of AI for humanity’s benefit. From Quartz: Horvitz wants to fundamentally change the way humans interact with machines, whether that’s building a new way […]

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, and Microsoft will participate in it’s new Critical Techniques, Technologies and Methodologies for Advancing Foundations and Applications of Big Data Sciences and Engineering (BIGDATA) research program. The three major cloud providers will supply cloud credits and resources to qualifying NSF-funded projects. This collaboration aims to combine cutting-edge, industry cloud computing resources with real data sets and assorted NSF-supported projects to advance research in big data and data science. Proposal submissions are due March 15, 2017 through March 22, 2017 (and no later than 5 p.m. submitter’s local time on March 22nd).  All those interested in submitting a […]

The 2015 Microsoft Research Faculty Summit will be streamed live from Redmond, Washington on Wednesday, July 8 and Thursday, July 9. This free online event offers keynotes and selected presentations from the Faculty Summit on future trends in computer science research. This year’s event, which focuses on Artificial Intelligence, includes former Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council Member and now Microsoft Research Managing Director, Eric Horvitz. Eric recently posted a CCC blog post on the Benefits and Risks of Artificial Intelligence. The Summit will feature three keynote speakers and a panel: July 8: Opening Keynote 8:30–9:15 A.M. PT (11:30 A.M.–12:15 P.M. ET): Jeannette Wing, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Research Panel: Progress in AI: Myths, Realities […]