The Meta Research PhD Fellowship 2023

The Meta Research PhD Fellowship is a global program 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.
The program is open to students in any year of their PhD study. People of diverse backgrounds and experiences are encouraged to apply, especially those from traditionally under-represented minority groups. Applications are evaluated based on the strength of the student’s research statement, publication record, and recommendation letters.

Winners of The Meta Research PhD Fellowship are entitled to receive two years of paid tuition and fees, a $42,000 annual stipend to cover living costs, various opportunities to engage with Meta researchers, and an invitation to the annual Fellowship Summit.

Brief Fact about The Meta Research PhD Fellowship:

Having funded over 200 students from around the world since the Fellowship program’s conception, Meta are proud to continue supporting exceptional PhD scholars in a variety of technology research domains. With the addition of close mentorship, the Meta Research PhD program aims to engage with Fellowship winners, learn alongside them, and discover emerging opportunities in industry together.
Meta does not claim any right to work performed during or as a result of the Fellowship. All research conducted by the Fellow belongs to the Fellow. This excludes any work completed as a Meta employee, should the Fellow do an internship or consult during their Fellowship.

• ​Funding: Full Funding
• ​Level: PhD
• ​Deadline: September 20, 2022.
• ​Type of Study: Full Time (Fellowship)
• ​Country: USA
• ​Host: Meta
• ​Nationality: International

Available Programs:

The following programs are available at the The Meta Research PhD Fellowship;

• AI System HW SW Co-Design
• Applied Statistics
• AR/VR Battery Research
• AR/VR Computer Graphics
• AR/VR Future Technologies
• AR/VR Human-Computer Interaction
• AR/VR Human Understanding
• AR/VR Photonics and Optics
• AR/VR Wireless
• Audio Presence
• Augmented Reality Audio
• Computational Social Science
• Database Systems
• Distributed Systems
• Economics and Computation
• Human Computer Interaction – Social Media, People, & Society Networking
• Privacy and Data Practices
• Programming Languages

Eligibility of The Meta Research PhD Fellowship:

You are eligible to apply for The Meta Research PhD Fellowship as long as you are:

• Enrolled in a PhD program at an accredited university in the fall following the application cycle (i.e., Fall 2023)
• Engaged in research related to computer science and engineering in areas relevant to Meta, as specified in the Available Fellowships section
• The program is open to students at all accredited universities around the world.

Ineligibilities of The Meta Research PhD Fellowship:

• Graduating before the fall following each application cycle
• Planning on working at another competitor company part-time while participating in the Fellowship
• A contingent worker at Meta. We cannot pay the CW wage and the stipend concurrently.
• A Meta AI Resident
• Planning on doing a part-time internship with a competitor during the academic year (fall/spring). You can do an internship at another company in the summer before Fellowship or in the summer between academic years during Fellowship. This includes internship extensions into the fall.
• Meta will not be offering awards to candidates whose research is outside the specified research areas described in the Available Fellowships section.
• Please review each Available Fellowship description carefully to ensure you are aligned with the correct research area.

Unfortunately, Meta are currently unable to provide funding for undergrads, graduates in different disciplines, or alternative funding such as small grants.

How to Apply:

• The 2023 application opens on August 3, 2022, at 9:00am PDT.
• Applicants may prepare to apply by creating a SurveyMonkey Apply account.
• During the application process, applicants will be asked to provide references’ contact information. Once the application is submitted, references will receive an email to upload their letters in SurveyMonkey Apply by October 6, 2022.
• Applications close on September 20, 2022. After the application deadline, changes to applications will no longer be accepted. There is no interview associated with the Fellowship review process.
• Winners are notified in mid-January 2023. Winners will be announced on the Meta Research blog. Due to the volume of submissions, individual feedback on proposals will be impossible.

Read Also; University Of Dayton Scholarship

Benefits of the Fellowship:

• Tuition money will be paid directly to the school. The total stipend of $42,000 will be paid to Fellow via direct deposit, unless otherwise specified. Stipends must be paid directly to Fellows.
• Stipend payment(s) are sent once a tuition invoice is received for the respective fall term each year.
• The award funds are delivered during the fall term of the awarded year(s) and conclude at the end of the Spring term.
• If a Fellow graduates in the middle of the academic year, they will receive their full tuition for the semester, and half of their stipend amount (in alignment with the semester).
• Transferring universities during the Fellowship should generally not pose an issue with payment.

Rules of Grant: 

• The $42,000 stipend cannot be redirected to the university’s lab as gift funding. Stipends must be paid directly to Fellows.
• Tuition and stipend/travel funds cannot be combined and paid to the university.
• Fellows do not receive equipment directly from Meta, but they are free to use their stipend to buy themselves a computer or any equipment necessary for conducting their research.
• Fellows cannot join Meta’s savings account plans (e.g. 401k, Health Savings Account, etc.) since they are not Meta employees.

Document Required:

Applications of The Meta Research PhD Fellowship must include;

• CV or resume. There is no page limit to the resume or CV. In this case, it may be worthwhile to have a longer CV to complement your achievements or any publications you would like to share.
• Research statement. Statements of research should be 500 words or less and should clearly identify your area of focus, its importance to the field, and its applicability to Meta as it pertains to one of the Available Fellowships. Note that references or citations count toward the 500-word limit. To optimize the word count for research statements, references and citations should be added to CVs, which do not have a word or page limit.
• Two letters of recommendation. One of the letters of recommendation needs to come from a PhD advisor or a research advisor. The other may come from another professor or an industry contact.

PhD students are welcome to apply for the Meta Research PhD Fellowship if their PhD is funded through other means. If an applicant is selected as a winner, potential conflicts of interest will be reviewed and determine which funding they would have eligibility for (tuition vs. stipend, etc).

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