Awards

Award Information

Doctoral Student Awards

On the basis of an application in the form of a research proposal, the Link Foundation awards up to five fellowships to qualified doctoral students in academic institutions. A grant totaling $26,000 will be awarded. A Link Foundation fellowship provides funding for a graduate stipend of $26,000. 

The recipient university will provide tuition support, if needed, from institutional resources as a condition of accepting the fellowship. Other charges not allowed include: summer salary or other compensation for the research director, pooled or overhead costs, and salary for support staff (e.g., secretarial or clerical help). The fellow is to be enrolled full time with no teaching obligations and no research obligations to sponsors other than the Link Foundation for the duration of the award.

If a student does not expend the full amount of an awarded fellowship, either because the student completes work toward their degree in less time than the full duration of the fellowship or because the student withdraws from their degree program, unexpended funds will be returned to the fellowship program manager's institution in an amount pro-rated based on the fraction of the fellowship tenure during which the student was actively working on Link-supported research.

Basis for Awards

The applicant should be working full-time towards a degree in an established doctoral program at a  U.S. or Canadian institution. The applicant should have advanced to candidacy and the proposed research should be part of the Ph.D. dissertation requirement.

The applicant must submit a proposal that includes:

  1. A completed Application Form
  2. A 500-word essay that places the research in the context of current activities in the field.
  3. Project objectives, timeline and projected budget for use of the fellowship in accordance with Link Foundation guidelines (see "Objectives" and "The Awards..." sections, above).
  4. Two letters of recommendation, one of which must be from the dean and the other from the applicant’s Ph.D. advisor. The dean’s letter must include verification that there are adequate facilities for the applicant's research, specifically include a statement that acknowledges that “the university will provide tuition support, if needed, from institutional resources as a condition of accepting the fellowship,” and provide a description of the equipment applicant will use. One of the letters must include verification that the applicant is a full-time Ph.D. student, has advanced to candidacy, and that the proposed research will lead to completion of the applicant’s dissertation.
  5. Two additional letters of recommendation (professional or educational).
  6. A current resume.

Preference will be shown to proposals dealing directly with simulation and training and explore ideas not yet fully tested.

While in the past most fellowships have come from engineering and computer science departments, we encourage applicants from other disciplines to apply with innovative simulation modeling and training ideas.