Fellowships
MICDE Graduate Fellowship
Since 2014, MICDE has offered fellowships to current and incoming University of Michigan graduate students whose research project involves the use and advancement of scientific computing techniques and practices. These fellowships, which carry a $4,500 stipend, are meant to augment other sources of funding. Fellows may use the funds to attend a conference, buy a computer, or any other approved activity that will enhance her/his graduate experience.
Fellows must stay involved with MICDE throughout the year by attending the seminar series and other MICDE events. Fellows are expected to present a poster at a MICDE conference or symposium, circumstances permitting.
2024-2025 Fellows: (pictured from left to right, top to bottom): Renly Hou, Yi-Han Toh, Dhanvi Bharadwaj, Ethan Stout, Jyotirmoy Roy, Diana Karosas, Zachary Croft, Nicholas Forcone, Jyotirmoy Roy, Mengbing Li, Lixuan Chen, Yuhan Zhang, Sahil Bhola, Jiaming Pan, Lei Zhang, Chaiti Bhagawat
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MICDE Graduate Fellowships for Current Students
We are not currently accepting applications for this Fellowship. The next cycle will begin in May 2025. Please join our mailing list to be notified when the next application cycle opens.
Expectations
Fellows must stay involved with MICDE throughout the year by attending the seminar series and other MICDE events. Fellows are expected to present a poster at a MICDE conference or symposium, circumstances permitting.
Application Process
Applications will be accepted via InfoReady in May-June of each year. Application materials will include:
- A single PDF file that includes:
- A two-page résumé (template will be provided)
- A 400-word narrative of your current research. In your narrative, please make sure to highlight what computational methods or algorithms you currently use.
- A short statement describing your plans for the fellowship funds.
- The name and email of the faculty member that will provide a letter of reference. If you are in a PhD program, this will typically be your advisor or a computationally-focused member of your committee. If you are in an MS program, this may be the program’s director or coordinator, or another faculty member who is familiar with your work.
This is a very competitive fellowship. Please see our Application Tips document and read the FAQ below before submitting.
If you have any questions that are not answered in the FAQ below, please email micde-fellowships@umich.edu.
Eligibility
- You must have been enrolled for at least one semester in a graduate degree program at the University of Michigan.
- You must be involved in a research project with a computational science component.
- You must expect to be enrolled at U-M for your entire fellowship year.
- MICDE enrollment:
- In order for your application to be considered, you must have at least completed the initial pre-application or course audit form for one of MICDE’s academic programs before the fellowship deadline.
- Before funds will be disbursed you must be fully enrolled in one of MICDE’s academic programs.
Frequently Asked Questions about the MICDE Graduate Fellowship for Continuing Students
What expenses can the MICDE Graduate Fellowship be used for?
- Conference registration fees and travel costs
- Professional development course fees and travel costs.
- Computing equipment and accessories: new computer, computer repair, external storage, keyboard, mouse, headphones, iPad, etc.
- HPC Resources: ARC-TS, amazon cloud, etc.
- Software and software subscriptions: Overleaf, Canva, Grammarly, etc.
- Other: books, association memberships, workspace accessories, etc.
Not allowed: lab equipment or materials, stipends, phones. Purchases of computing equipment in a student’s final year may be restricted. Contact micde-fellowships@umich.edu if you have any questions about allowable expenses.
Do I need to submit a budget?
No, we only require a short description of your plan for the funds. This plan is flexible as long as the uses are in compliance with fellowship spending rules.
Am I eligible for the MICDE fellowship even if I have other fellowships (e.g. NSF GFRP)?
Yes, the MICDE fellowship is complementary funding so there are no restrictions. Please check with your other source(s) of funding to confirm there is no conflict if you receive the MICDE fellowship.
Can I apply for the fellowship if I will start my graduate program at U-M next fall?
No, only students have completed at least one semester in their current graduate program are eligible to apply. You may be eligible for the MICDE Graduate Scholarship for Incoming Students – ask your prospective department about this opportunity.
Do I need to be a currently enrolled in an MICDE program to apply?
No, you may submit your application to one of our academic programs and the fellowship application simultaneously. However, if you are chosen to receive the award, it will be conditional upon your enrollment in the chosen program.
NOTE: It suffices to submit the Course Audit Form for the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing, the Pre-Application Form for the Graduate Certificate in Computational Discovery & Engineering, or the Pre-Application Form for the Graduate Certificate in Computational Neuroscience before the fellowship’s application deadline. Funds will not be disbursed, however, until you are fully enrolled in a MICDE academic program.
May I apply for the fellowship, even if I am a former fellow?
No, a student may only be awarded an MICDE Graduate Fellowship once, even if they start a second graduate program.
MICDE Graduate Fellowships for Incoming Students
We are now accepting nominations for the 2025-2026 MICDE Graduate Fellowships for Incoming Students.
Applications will be reviewed in two sets:
- Early-bird nominations: Nominations submitted by 11:59pm on Sunday, February 16, 2025 will be reviewed together. We expect to send notifications by Friday, February 28, 2025.
- Regular nominations: Nominations submitted between Monday, February 17 and 11:59pm on Sunday, March 2, 2025 will be reviewed together. We expect to send notifications by Friday, March 14, 2025.
Please see the instructions below before submitting a nomination.
In order to attract exceptional students with an interest in computational science to study at the University of Michigan, MICDE offers a number of MICDE Graduate Fellowships to incoming students. To be considered for this award, a U-M faculty member must submit a nomination on the student’s behalf. MICDE will not communicate directly with nominated students unless they are selected and enroll at U-M.
Nomination Process
Nominations from faculty will be accepted in January-March of each year. They will be reviewed in two phases, with fewer spots available in the later phase, so faculty are recommended to submit nominations by the first deadline if possible.
Please nominate a student to whom an offer has already been made, for whom you believe the fellowship will make a material difference in deciding to join U-M. We can only accept one nomination per faculty member. If you are nominating on behalf of your department’s recruiting committee, you may submit multiple nominations, but please be sure to list the name of their prospective advisor(s) and general topic.
MICDE seeks to recruit and retain a diverse cohort of students to contribute to building a more diversified, equitable and inclusive STEM community. Please keep this is mind when submitting your nomination.
Please email micde-fellowships@umich.edu with any questions about the nomination process.
Instructions
You will need the following information ready to fill the form:
- the student’s full name
- their undergraduate institution and major
- their Master’s institution and major (if applicable)
- expected research area and brief statement of support, and
- the student’s U-M application file (pdf).
We can only accept one nomination per faculty member.
Fellowship Awards
The fellowship will include access to $4500 of funds per student, to be used for equipment, training, computational time, or professional development that will assist in their computational studies.
Expectations
Incoming fellows are:
- encouraged to enroll in one of MICDE’s academic programs
- encouraged to get involved with MICDE throughout the year by attending the seminar series and other MICDE events
- expected to present a poster at an MICDE symposium/conference at least once during their time at the University of Michigan
Current MICDE Fellows
Meet the recipients of the 2024-2025 MICDE Fellowships. MICDE fellows epitomize the reach of computation in diverse scientific disciplines, as their research projects involve the use and advancement of scientific computing techniques and practices in a wide array of disciplines ranging from community resilience, to human-autonomy and quantum computing.
Beyster Fellowships
MICDE is aiding in the administration of the J. Robert Beyster Computational Innovation Graduate Fellows Program. This fellowship is for domestic Ph.D. graduate students in the College of Engineering who have reached candidacy to support cutting-edge research in a variety of fields linking high performance computing, networking, and storage to applications of societal importance. Potential fellows will be nominated by their home department.
Clare Boothe Luce Fellowships
The University of Michigan was awarded a Clare Boothe Luce grant to fund the first 3 years of the Ph.D. program of women enrolling in the Ph.D. in Scientific Computing. This one-time opportunity is currently funding two Ph.D. students, one in Mechanical Engineering (College of Engineering), and one in Mathematics (College of Literature, Science and the Arts).
