24 ACM SIGHPC Computational & Data Science Fellowships (Spring 24)

ACM SIGHPC has created the Computational and Data Science Fellowships, a continuation of the program started with Intel to increase the diversity of students pursuing graduate degrees in data science and computational science. Specifically targeted at women or students from racial/ethnic backgrounds that have not traditionally participated in the computing field, the program is open to students pursuing degrees at institutions anywhere in the world.

For the purposes of these fellowships, “computational science” encompasses any program of study where computational modeling and simulation serve as the primary methods for conducting research, typically in a field other than computer science (e.g., computational chemistry, wildfire modeling, computational hydrodynamics).  Similarly, “data science” relies on computational analysis of large-scale data as the basis for research (e.g., ecological informatics, financial analytics). Preference will be given to candidates whose background is from disciplines other than computer science and who can bring new perspectives to computational/data science.

Each fellowship recipient will receive a stipend prior to the start of their first academic term after August 1. The value of the stipend will be US$15,000 annually. This stipend is intended to augment, not replace, the support already being provided by the institution. Recipients will receive the stipend annually for up to 2 years, as long as they are deemed to be making appropriate progress in the degree program (progress will be evaluated annually by ACM SIGHPC based on a brief report from each recipient). If additional funding becomes available, fellowship winners may be given the opportunity to receive extended support (through the completion of the degree, but not more than four years total).

New fellowship recipients will be recognized formally at the annual SC conference’s Awards Session. SIGHPC and SC will provide travel support for this (including airfare, hotel, conference registration, and an expense stipend).

For more information, see here: https://www.sighpc.org/opportunities/fellowships and https://www.sighpc.org/opportunities/fellowships/how-to-nominate and https://www.sighpc.org/opportunities/fellowships/frequently-asked-questions

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY

• Currently enrolled in a graduate program, or accepted to begin one, no later than October 15 of the year in which they are nominated

• Pursuing a graduate degree – Master’s, PhD, or equivalent – in computational or data science (although the formal name of the program may be somewhat different; see main webpage on the ACM SIGHPC website for examples)

• Less than halfway through her/his planned program of study (with preference given to students who are still early in their studies)

• A woman and/or a member of a racial/ethnic group that is currently underrepresented in the computing field in the country where the student will earn the degree

• Preference will be given to candidates whose background is from disciplines other than computer science and who can bring new perspectives to computational/data science
  
  

   

NOMINATOR ELIGIBILITY

• Must be the candidate’s current graduate research advisor (or if the student is not yet enrolled, must have agreed to take on advising responsibility when the student arrives)

• The following are ineligible to serve as nominators:  officers of ACM and members of the Fellowship Selection Committee
  
  

ENDORSER ELIGIBILITY

• A current or former instructor, project supervisor, or employer who has personal knowledge of the student’s past accomplishments
  
  

• Cannot be the same person as the nominator

• The following are ineligible to serve as endorsers:  officers of ACM and members of the Fellowship Selection Committee
  
  

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

• Students and nominators may not submit applications directly. All applications must first be submitted to the CS Awards Team.

• Please note that only one student per department can be submitted for this award. If more than one student is nominated, an internal competition will be held by the Graduate Student Awards Committee.
  
  

• Additionally, the CS Awards Team cannot submit this award on the chosen student's behalf. The faculty nominator of the selected student must work with the student and endorser(s) to submit the application on the student's behalf. 
  
  

• Applications should be submitted as ONE package with all required documents in the order outlined below to cs-awards@mx.uillinois.edu.

APPLICATION MATERIALS 

Note that there are rigid length guidelines for the materials below.

The nomination package to the CS Awards Team must contain the following documents, arranged in the following order in PDF form:

• A brief statement from the nominator acknowledging they have read the Nomination Guidelines for this award and agree to act as the nominator during the awards process 
  
  

• A statement from the nominator that identifies the reasons why the candidate is appropriate for a fellowship “to promote diversity in computing” (limited to 300 characters)

• A nomination statement from the nominator in support of the candidate (limited to 1 page)

• A statement from the candidate that indicates their motivation for pursuing the degree (limited to 500 characters)

• The candidate's CV

• The name and email for an endorser
  
  

Please that the nomination package to ACM SIGHPC will include additional information not included in the nomination package to the CS Awards Team.