NVIDIA's $60,000 fellowship for Ph.D. students

NVIDIA is now accepting applications for its 24th annual Graduate Fellowship Program, offering up to $60,000 in funding per doctoral student.

The grant focuses on Ph.D. candidates doing research tied to NVIDIA technologies, spanning AI, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, computer graphics, robotics, healthcare, and high-performance computing. Alongside the funding, fellows receive dedicated technical support and mentorship from company researchers.

The fine print: a mandatory summer internship

Since its launch in 2002, the program has awarded 200 grants totaling more than $6.5 million.

Eligibility comes with strict parameters. Applicants must have completed at least their first year of doctoral studies at the time of submission.

Crucially, candidates must also commit to an in-person internship at an NVIDIA research office in the summer of 2025 before the fellowship year kicks off. The application window for the 2025-2026 academic year closes on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.

Why it matters

For Ph.D. researchers working on accelerated computing, this is one of the premier industry grants available. Beyond the $60,000 financial support, the biggest draw is direct access to NVIDIA internal mentors, proprietary tools, and a secured foot in the door at a top-tier research lab.

For NVIDIA, the program serves as a high-yield talent pipeline. By tying financial awards directly to a mandatory in-person summer internship, the company effectively channels top academic minds and cutting-edge university breakthroughs straight into its own engineering ecosystem before anyone else can hire them.