NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Program 2024 – 2025
The application deadline for the 2024-2025 academic year is Sept. 7, 2023
NVIDIA Since its founding in 1993, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been a pioneer in accelerated computing. The company’s invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined computer graphics, ignited the era of modern AI and is fueling the creation of the metaverse. NVIDIA is now a full-stack computing company with data-center-scale offerings that are reshaping industry.
This is the twenty-third year that NVIDIA has invited PhD students to submit their research projects for consideration. Recipients are selected based on their academic achievements, professor nomination, and area of research. We have found this program to be a great way to support academia in its pursuit of cutting edge innovation, as well as an ideal avenue to introduce NVIDIA to the future leaders of our industry.
It focuses on supporting students working in AI, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, computer graphics, robotics, healthcare, high performance computing and related fields. Awards are up to $60,000 per student.
NVIDIA has long believed that investing in university talent is beneficial to the industry and key to our continued growth and success. The NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Program provides funding in the amount of up to $60,000 per award to PhD students who are researching topics that will lead to major advances in accelerated computing and its applications. NVIDIA particularly invites submissions from students pushing the envelope in artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and related fields. We select students each year who have the talent, aptitude and initiative to work closely with us early in their careers. Recipients not only receive crucial funding for their research, but are able to conduct groundbreaking work with access to NVIDIA products, technology and some of the most talented minds in the field. In addition, the Fellowship includes a summer internship preceding the Fellowship year.
NVIDIA partners with industry leaders to tackle some of the most complex computing challenges. We’re creating profound change in fields as diverse as medicine, space exploration, automotive design and film production. We’ve only scratched the surface of what we can accomplish when we apply our technology to it. We need innovative and talented doctoral students, who aren’t afraid of a challenge, to help us tackle these opportunities.
Application
- Students must have already completed their first year of PhD level studies (at the time of application)
- Students must have majors in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, System Architecture, Electrical Engineering, or a related area
- Students must be engaged in active research as part of their PhD thesis
- Students must be enrolled as a full time active PhD student during the 2024-2025 academic year (9 months) of the award – this means they should not be expecting to graduate sooner than May/June 2025.
- Students must be available to complete a summer internship (which due to COVID-19 may be held remotely) prior to the start of their Fellowship year.
- Students may not be immediate family of a current NVIDIA employee
- Note: The award must be administered through the student’s university; payment will be made to the university, not directly to the student
Proposals Will be Evaluated for:
Student quality
- Letters of recommendation
- Academic performance (GPA) and achievements
Research quality
- Research results to date
- Research proposal for fellowship
- Publication track record
Relevance to NVIDIA
- How your work connects to NVIDIA’s primary research domains
- How your research might influence the design, performance or use of future GPUs
Graduate Fellowship Applications Must Include:
- Research summary/thesis proposal – up to 2 pages, plus bibliography (bibliography does not count toward 2 page maximum for proposal)
- Resume/Curriculum Vitae (CV) including contact information
- Professor nomination letters (2 letters minimum (must include one from thesis advisor), up to 3 letters maximum — OK to have nomination letters from non-professors, as long as you have one from your thesis advisor/professor).
- Confirmation of availability for summer internship
Submission Portal: It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all of these items are submitted prior to the deadline. We are using a Submission Portal in which the student manages their own application. The student must:
- Complete the student profile – start this now; you can go back to the portal repeatedly until you submit the final application
- Complete your application input including research summary thesis proposal and resume (CV)
- Add contacts for the letters of recommendation — an email will automatically be sent on your behalf to each recommender you add — be sure to add your professors/recommenders early in the process! Do not wait until close to the deadline!
- Monitor the status of your recommendation letters in the portal — do not click on the final submission until the recommendation status shows “recommendation uploaded” for each recommendation you are expecting — the professor deadline has been set 1 day prior to the student deadline to allow the student to ensure all documents are received before submitting — the deadline for recommendation letters is 3pm Pacific September 6, 2023.
- Communicate with the recommenders to complete their letter upload on time – it is the student’s responsibility to ensure their letters are received into the system.
- Submit the final application when all items are complete, and prior to the application deadline: 3pm Pacific September 7, 2023.
Submissions are currently OPEN. Please access the submission site here.
Notifications of final decisions will be emailed by the end of November
Terms and Conditions
The Graduate Fellowship Award must be used to further your research. The breakdown of the award is between stipend, tuition and health insurance, in that order. The award is an unrestricted gift to be used to further the student’s research over the academic year. We ask that no overhead or indirect costs are charged to the award. Awards are not transferable to another student. Whether it is OK to combine the NVIDIA fellowship with another fellowship depends on several factors — please contact the NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship for details on this matter. Awards are issued to the university for disbursement, not directly to the student. Amount of the award cannot exceed stipend, tuition, and health insurance. There may also be university-specific restrictions that pertain. Applications include permission to use the student’s submission data for evaluation of a potential fellowship award. Applicants may choose to opt-in for an internship evaluation outside of the fellowship (in the event the applicant is not chosen for an award.) If selected for an award, a completed internship at NVIDIA is required before the Fellowship award year can begin. Immediate family of NVIDIA employees cannot participate.
Helpful Hints for the Graduate Fellowship Submission: The Recommendation Letter
A heavily-weighted component of the application evaluation is the recommendation letter. It is therefore recommended that the candidate afford it the proper attention and effort; here are a few tips that we suggest:
- Pick your recommenders wisely!
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- Your thesis advisor is required, but beyond that, you should select only people who know you well enough to write a strong recommendation for you. A recommendation from a high-profile researcher who barely knows you, or has not worked with you, does not help your application.
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- Ask each of your recommenders in person/via email before you send the request from the NVIDIA Grad Fellow portal. Ask them also if they have time to write such a letter by the due date. If they are traveling or focused on another deadline, their letter may be hastily composed and not help your cause. It is also generally OK to ask them directly if they feel comfortable writing a strong recommendation letter. If this is someone you only took a class from a few semesters ago, they might not remember you well enough to write you the kind of recommendation you are seeking – give them a chance to tell you. If that is the case, then thank them and move on to asking someone who knows you better.
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- If you are asking a recommender in industry, such as a former boss from a summer internship, you may need to remind them what you’ve been working on since they last worked with you. It always helps if you can stay in somewhat regular touch with such contacts, so that a lot of time doesn’t pass between updates.
- Provide your recommenders with sufficient notice.
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- Your recommenders are busy people and cannot always pull off a last-minute request. Give them at least a 2 week notice if possible.
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- Be sure to send the request from the submission portal early and double-check with them that they received the email from the system – sometimes the email goes into their spam folder, and it’s harder to find when it’s the day before the deadline. Ask them to please confirm receipt of the email within 24 hours of your sending it from the portal.
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- Send them a couple of polite reminders: if you’ve given them 2 weeks, perhaps send a reminder at the one-week mark, and if they still haven’t submitted the letter 3 days prior to the deadline (remember, you can check their letter status on the submission portal), then send them one more reminder.
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- Thank them for their recommendation as soon as you see their letter has been submitted!
Graduate Fellowships FAQs
Do you have a specific research field requirement in EE, CE, or CS?
No. There are many ways that Engineering fields can touch NVIDIA, and we are open to considering them.
I am just starting my PhD this Fall. Am I eligible to apply?
You should have completed your first year of your PhD program at the time of application. The requirement is not black and white, but the idea is that after one year, there is a track record of research and experience. With no Ph.D. experience, there is very little to judge the student’s research on. So, it’s certainly fine to apply, but very unlikely to be awarded. Of course, in special situations, there may be enough history to make a compelling application. We suggest you look at the list of past recipients and see whether your application is comparable. If so, then go ahead and apply and see where your application falls in the review process compared to all the other applications.
Do I need to have accepted publications?
Our prior fellowship recipients have had track records of multiple publications in top-tier venues of their fields. To be competitive, you should have at least one strong publication.
Is there a limit on how many Graduate Fellowship Awards one PhD student can receive from NVIDIA?
No. At this time there is no limit on the number of times you can be awarded the NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Award. Keep in mind you can only receive one per year!
Is there a limit to the number of NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Awards granted per University or per Research Team?
No. At this time, there is no limit per University nor is there a limit per graduate team provided the research is different and interesting to NVIDIA.
I am a current Graduate Fellowship Recipient, can I apply again?
Yes. You can apply each year you are enrolled full-time until the year before you complete your PhD. You can follow the same guidelines and application process as any new applicant.
Are International PhD students eligible?
Yes. International students are eligible to apply. Keep in mind, the Graduate Fellowship Award amount may vary by country, region or location.
Can I have more than one Professor Nomination Letter?
Yes, you can have up to three Professor Nomination Letters. It is OK to have nomination letter(s) from non-professors, as long as you have one from your thesis advisor/professor.
What if my professor/advisor doesn’t submit the Professor Nomination Letter?
We do require at least one Professor Nomination Letter from your thesis advisor. Please be sure to add your recommendation contacts into the portal early in the process so that your professor(s) have sufficient notice and time to compose and upload their letter. Please remember it is the student’s responsibility to ensure the professor nominations are turned in on time, and following up with them prior to the deadline if they haven’t uploaded their letter into the portal.
How are the Graduate Fellowship Recipients selected?
NVIDIA’s Graduate Fellowship Program has a committee of engineers headed by our Chief Scientist, Bill Dally. The committee is comprised of over 60 senior technical staff and managers from research and development groups across the company. This committee reviews all applicants competitively in several review sessions. This is a very intensive process. The entire review process usually takes about 8 weeks. Unfortunately, many qualified candidates will not be selected due to the high quality of proposals and limited number of awards available.
Can I work a part-time job during my Fellowship?
The goal of covering your stipend in full is to release you from the need to work as a TA/RA or another outside job, and allow you to focus on your research. However, we realize that sometimes part-time jobs provide a benefit to the student other than money, and in those cases as long as the work is beneficial to the progress of your PhD and a conflict of interest does not exist between NVIDIA and the other entity, this would be acceptable to NVIDIA. If there is any doubt on the conflict of interest, please check with your NVIDIA Fellowship contact.
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