is phd at stanford fully funded

Funding Graduate Study

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Graduate students at Stanford may receive funding from a variety of sources. University fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships are offered primarily to doctoral students. In some cases, master's students also may receive fellowships and assistantships. In addition, outside agencies provide fellowships to many Stanford graduate students. Students without fellowships or assistantships, and those whose funding does not cover all of their costs, may need to use student loans, savings, other personal assets, a spouse's earnings, or parental support to meet their educational expenses. 

Financial assistance can be divided into three broad categories:

• Grants, Scholarships and Fellowships  - Generally called "fellowships" at the graduate level, these are a form of support that may include a stipend to pay living expenses and/or tuition support. No employment is expected in return for a fellowship; it is awarded on a merit basis to assist a student in the pursuit of a degree.
• Assistantships  - A form of graduate student support that includes a compensation package with support for both living expenses and tuition, for the performance of research or teaching services to the University as part of the student's academic and professional training and development.
• Loans  - Funds advanced to you by a governmental or private lender, to be repaid (or possibly forgiven) after graduation. Only US Citizens and Permanent Residents are eligible for US federal loan programs through the Department of Education.

We strongly recommend that you investigate all possible funding options in order to maximize your grants and scholarships and minimize loan obligations.

Explore the links to the left for more information, including tuition costs and other estimated expenses.

Funding Your PhD

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All School of Engineering students who are in good standing relative to their PhD program requirements should be funded to the department’s standard. Often, our PhD students apply for and may receive individual fellowships that can reduce the department’s or advisor’s cost of funding.

In these cases, the guarantee of funding to the student will include the fellowship award and additional support from the department/advisor to reach the department-standard level.

The Equity and Inclusion team has compiled a list of resources below. Please refer to department websites for more information. 

Fellowships & Other Programs

Stanford Engineering belongs to several national consortia that recruit and finance graduate students underrepresented in the field.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program

Each year this program awards up to 100 high-achieving students with full funding to pursue a graduate education at Stanford. Learn More

GEM Fellowship Program

GEM is an award that may bring industry connections, mentorship, and sometimes provides internships. The GEM funding can range from $0 to the maximum one-time $20,000 award for graduate students.

Step 1:  Review the information below. Step 2:  Complete this  Qualtrics  form. The form contains 3 pages and will ask you to upload a copy of your offer of admission and funding letter.  Step 3:  The form information will be sent to your department for verification and consideration.  Step 4:  Once verified by the admitting department, the certifying officer will update the GEM portal.

Doctoral (Ph.D) Admits Stanford Engineering commits to full funding for all PhDs. Departments will decide how to utilize GEM’s maximum contribution (up to $20,000 total) in funding allocations.

Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity (GFSD)

With the most diverse applicant pool of any national STEM fellowship program, GFSD is a partnership between government agencies and laboratories, industry, and higher education. Learn More 

DARE Fellowship

The Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence (DARE) Fellowship objectives are to prepare the student for a successful faculty career and to support their commitment to using diversity as a resource to enrich the education of others. Learn More

Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship (SIGF)

SIGF supports incoming and current doctoral students, nominated by their departments. Learn More 

Teaching & Course Assistantships

Fund your PhD and help students – from grade school to undergraduate – expand their knowledge in STEM. 

School of Engineering Teaching and Course Assistantships

This program has the dual goal of providing funding and teaching opportunities to graduate students, while enriching the undergraduate curriculum. Learn More

Additional Calculus for Engineers (ACE)

Earn additional funding by teaching weekly small group sessions for undergraduates needing additional support in introductory courses in math, computational and mathematical engineering, and computer science. Learn More

STEM K-12 Education Initiatives

Help young students underrepresented in STEM build confidence in math, science, and engineering, as you earn funding as a teacher, tutor, graduate lecturer, or workshop leader. Learn More

Other Resources

For fee waivers and further financial aid information, visit the following pages and programs:

Fee Waivers

If you are considering Stanford graduate programs and need assistance with the application fees, consider applying for a fee waiver. Learn More

SEED Funding

The Stanford SEED Funding website aims to simplify the search for seed and other forms of internal university funding that support the critical early stage work of Stanford faculty and students. Learn More 

Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE)

The Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE) supports graduate students, student groups, and department-based projects through funding and professional development opportunities. Learn More

Graduate Life Office (GLO)

Stanford’s Graduate Life Office is committed to supporting students’ well-being and offers a broad variety of resources on campus, including financial aid. Learn More 

PhD Admissions

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The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree is intended primarily for students who desire a career in research, advanced development, or teaching. Students in the PhD program obtain a broad education in the core areas of Aeronautics and Astronautics through coursework, while also engaging in intensive research in a specialized area, culminating in a doctoral thesis.

As of the 2021-2022 application term, an MS degree will no longer be required to apply to the PhD program in Aeronautics and Astronautics. Students with a Bachelor’s degree who ultimately intend to complete a PhD degree are strongly encouraged to apply directly to the PhD program, rather than the MS program.

Current Stanford MS students interested in adding a PhD program to their academic career should speak with the staff at the Aero/Astro Student Services Office about the necessary paperwork and relevant policies. If you are a current master's student in the Stanford Aeronautics and Astronautics Department, to apply for the PhD, you must complete paperwork prior to conferring the MS degree.

Application Deadlines

We have one PhD admission cycle. Application deadlines are final. A completed application (including letters of recommendation, transcripts and TOEFL scores) must be uploaded by the deadline. Applications will NOT be accepted after the deadline. A completed application (including letters of recommendation, transcripts and TOEFL scores) must be received by the following date:

Autumn 2024-25: December 5, 2023

Application Requirements

To be eligible for admission to the PhD program, applicants must either:

• hold, or expect to hold before enrollment at Stanford, a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. college or university.
• Applicants from institutions outside the U.S. must hold the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree from a college or university of recognized standing. See minimum level of study required of international applicants .

Students who meet the above degree requirement with a strong technical background in engineering, physics, or a comparable science program are welcome to apply; a bachelor's degree in aeronautics and astronautics or mechanical engineering is not strictly required.

All students interested in pursuing a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics should use the Stanford Graduate Admissions Application . Your application must include all of the materials listed below and be received by Stanford by the application deadline. The fee for online graduate applications is $125.

Required Application Documents

• Online Application
• Application Fee

Statement of Purpose

• 3 Letters of Recommendation
• Official TOEFL* Scores, if applicable

Application Fee Waiver

If you are considering Stanford graduate programs and need assistance with the application fees, consider applying for a fee waiver .

Your statement of purpose should identify personal and professional goals. It should also discuss your development to date and your intentions relative to graduate study and life beyond Stanford. The Aero/Astro Graduate Admissions Committee reads your statement of purpose with interest because, along with the letters of recommendation, it offers insight into who you are as an individual. Your statement of purpose should not exceed two pages (single-spaced).

Transcripts

Submitting transcripts when you are applying, and after you have been offered admission are two separate steps. When applying: You must upload one scanned version of your transcript(s) in the online application. Please read the Applying section of this website for important information about submitting transcripts. If offered admission: Please see this page for information on submitting final official transcripts.

Letters of Recommendation

Three letters of recommendation are required; one letter must come from an academic source, although at least two are preferred. Recommendations must be submitted online. Please see the "Recommendations" section of the online application for information. Please  do not  submit letters of recommendation through Interfolio.

TOEFL Scores

Adequate command of spoken and written English is required for admission. Applicants whose first language is not English must submit an official test score from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) . Stanford accepts only ETS (Educational Testing Service) scores. TOEFL results must be from an examination taken within the past two years. The Stanford institution code for ETS reporting is 4704. You do not need a department code. For more information on TOEFL requirements, please see the Required Exams and Frequently Asked Questions sections on the Graduate Admissions website .

*Stanford will temporarily accept the TOEFL ITP Plus test with the Vericant interview for applicants from Mainland China who are unable to sit for the TOEFL iBT. This exception is requested only for the 2020-2021 application cycle. Applicants may be asked to re-test at a later time once the Stanford TOEFL iBT becomes available, or applicants may be asked to re-test through the Stanford Language Center. Per current University policy, all international students including those from Mainland China must receive English language clearance from the English for Foreign Students program prior to becoming a teaching assistant.

Exemptions are granted to applicants who have earned (or will earn, before enrolling at Stanford) a U.S. bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree from a college or university accredited by a regional accrediting association in the United States, or the international equivalent degree from a university of recognized standing in a country in which all instruction is provided in English. U.S. citizenship does not automatically exempt an applicant from taking the TOEFL if the applicant’s first language is not English.

Reapplicants must submit new supporting documents and complete the online application as outlined above, in the graduate application checklist. Only prior official test scores can be reactivated.

Application Status

You may view your application status and decision by logging into your status page . Due to the volume of applications we receive, we are not able to confirm with individual applicants when documents have been received. All applicants should monitor the online checklist to track individual documents. It is the applicant's responsibility to monitor the checklist and ensure that all documents are received by the deadline.

Admission Decisions

Completed applications are reviewed by the faculty Admissions Committee throughout the winter. A select group of applicants will be interviewed during the evaluation process. Letters are sent as decisions are made, beginning in March. The selection of graduate students admitted to the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics is based on an individualized, holistic review of each application, including (but not limited to) the applicant’s academic record, the letters of recommendation, the statement of purpose, personal qualities and characteristics, and past accomplishments.

PhD Funding

All SoE PhD students who are in good standing relative to their PhD program requirements will be funded to the department’s PhD standard. In all departments, this is at least equivalent to Stanford’s 20-hour-RA salary plus tuition to cover the department’s required enrollment (summer enrollment requirements vary by department).  Funding can include fellowships, research assistantships, training grants and teaching assistantships. PhD students are encouraged to pursue outside fellowships. Besides the prestige, fellowships give the recipient greater flexibility in determining their own research direction.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Join dozens of Stanford Engineering students who gain valuable leadership skills in a multidisciplinary, multicultural community as Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS).

KHS admits up to 100 select applicants each year from across Stanford’s seven graduate schools, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders ready to address complex global challenges. As a scholar, you join a multidisciplinary and multicultural cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of your graduate studies at Stanford.

Candidates from any country may apply. KHS applicants must have earned their first undergraduate degree within the last seven years (or nine years, if you have served in your country's military). Applicants must apply to both a Stanford graduate program and to KHS.

If you aspire to be a leader in your field, we invite you to apply. The KHS application deadline is October 11, 2023. Learn more about KHS admission .

Application Questions

email: [email protected]

PhD Financial Support

Phd students.

PhD students admitted to the department are offered five years of full funding (subject to satisfactory degree progress.) This includes  tuition  plus fellowship or salary, and four summers of support. (Outside support sources such as Mellon, Fulbright or NSF fellowships are included in this funding, and do not increase the years of funding.) Five quarters of the funding are fulfilling teaching assistantships, typically during the second and third years, and one in the fourth or fifth years. In addition, each student is covered for their full individual premium for  Cardinal Care  health insurance during funded quarters, and summer if they were enrolled during the prior quarter.

The Philosophy department provides additional funds for each student which can be used for books, computer equipment, conferences, travel expenses or other incidental expenses and  fees . This fund is currently  $1,000 per student annually, for the first five years. Our students also successfully apply to outside fellowships such as the  Newcombe Doctoral Dissertaton Fellowship ,  dissertation fellowships through the Stanford Humanities Center  or the  VPGE , Humanities and Science graduate fellowships and awards,  ACLS  Mellon fellowships, and Bechtel's database of   international scholarships . 

The university also offers support programs for graduate students, such as grants and loans, to help with unexpected expenses:

https://financialaid.stanford.edu/grad/funding/

Stanford is on the quarter system. The normal combination of fellowship and assistantship is as follows.

First years are on fellowship for three quarters (Autumn, Winter, Spring.) There is no teaching requirement in the first year, allowing students to focus on class work.

Second Year and Third Year

Second years and third years typically receive one quarter of fellowship, and two quarters of teaching assistantship in each of these years.  A Teaching Assistant usually leads two discussion sections of one course per quarter. 

Fourth Year and Fifth Year

In the fourth year, students are usually on a research assistantship all year. In the fifth year, students usually receive a fellowship all year. There is often a quarter of teaching assistantship left to fulfill during those two years. This frees up time during the fourth and fifth year for working on the dissertation.

We do offer some funding for the sixth year in most years, but cannot guarantee funding at this point.

There are four guaranteed summers of fellowship support.

Masters Students

There is no funding available for Masters students from the department.

Students considering the Masters may want to check Stanford's  financial aid website  for information about loans and grants that are available to them through other sources.

Knight Hennessy

Stanford's  Knight Hennessy  Fellows program funds students to study in a Stanford graduate program. The Knight Hennessy application deadline is usually in late summer, and applicants would need to apply both to the Knight Hennessy program and a graduate program at Stanford.

From the Knight Hennessy program, here is their 2023-24 application info:

Join dozens of  Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences students  who gain valuable leadership skills in a multidisciplinary, multicultural community as  Knight-Hennessy Scholars  (KHS). KHS admits up to 100 select applicants each year from across Stanford’s seven graduate schools, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders ready to address complex global challenges. As a scholar, you join a distinguished cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of your studies at Stanford. Candidates of any country may apply. KHS applicants must have earned their first undergraduate degree within the last seven years, and must apply to both a Stanford graduate program and to KHS. Stanford PhD students may also apply to KHS during their first year of PhD enrollment. If you aspire to be a leader in your field, we invite you to apply. The KHS application deadline is October 11, 2023. Learn more about  KHS admission .

Ph.D. Admissions

Apply here . 

Preparing to Apply

Before starting the application process please read the information about the graduate program requirements  and read our  Frequently Asked Questions . You may also find the Guide to Getting Into Grad School helpful. 

The Political Science department recognizes that the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June 2023 about the consideration of certain types of demographic information as part of an admission review. All applications submitted during upcoming application cycles will be reviewed in conformance with that decision.

All questions regarding graduate admissions should be directed to politicalscience [at] stanford.edu (subject: Admissions%20Enquiry) ( politicalscience[at]stanford[dot]edu ) .

The principal goal of the Stanford Ph.D. program in political science is the training of scholars. Most students who receive doctorates in the program do research and teach at colleges or universities. We offer courses and research opportunities in a wide variety of fields in the discipline, including American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory, and Political Methodology. The program is built around small seminars that analyze critically the literature of a field or focus on a research problem. These courses prepare students for the Ph.D. comprehensive exam requirement within a two-year period and for work on the doctoral dissertation.  

Admission to the graduate program in political science is highly selective. About twelve to fifteen students, chosen from a large pool of applicants, enter the program each year. The small size of our student body allows more individual work with members of the faculty than most graduate programs. It also makes possible financial assistance in one form or another to most students admitted to the Ph.D. program. 

Graduate Admissions FAQ

Please visit our list of  frequently asked questions.

You may also find the following links useful if you have general questions about student life and graduate study at Stanford University:  

Vice Provost of Graduate Education (VPGE)

• Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures Handbook (GAP)
• Graduate Life Office
• Stanford Bulletin
• Explore Courses

Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Join dozens of Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences students who gain valuable leadership skills in a multidisciplinary, multicultural community as Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS). KHS admits up to 100 select applicants each year from across Stanford’s seven graduate schools, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders ready to address complex global challenges. As a scholar, you join a distinguished cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of your PhD studies at Stanford. Candidates of any country may apply. KHS applicants must have earned their first undergraduate degree within the last seven years, and must apply to both a Stanford graduate program and to KHS. Stanford PhD students may also apply to KHS during their first year of PhD enrollment. If you aspire to be a leader in your field, we invite you to apply. The KHS application deadline is October 11, 2023. Learn more about KHS admission .

PhD Program

Professor Wender discusses chemistry with his graduate students.

Doctoral study in chemistry at Stanford University prepares students for research and teaching careers with diverse emphases in basic, life, medical, physical, energy, materials, and environmental sciences.

The Department of Chemistry offers opportunities for graduate study spanning contemporary subfields, including theoretical, organic, inorganic, physical, biophysical and biomedical chemistry and more. Much of the research defies easy classification along traditional divisions; cross-disciplinary collaborations with Stanford's many vibrant research departments and institutes is among factors distinguishing this world-class graduate program.

The Department of Chemistry is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development.  This advising relationship entails collaborative and sustained engagement with mutual respect by both the adviser and advisee.

• The adviser is expected to meet at least monthly with the graduate student to discuss on-going research.
• There should be a yearly independent development plan (IDP) meeting between the graduate student and adviser. Topics include research progress, expectations for completion of PhD, areas for both the student and adviser to improve in their joint research effort.
• A research adviser should provide timely feedback on manuscripts and thesis chapters.
• Graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program.
• If there is a significant issue concerning the graduate student’s progress in research, the adviser must communicate this to the student and to the Graduate Studies Committee in writing.  This feedback should include the issues, what needs to be done to overcome these issues and by when.

Academic advising by Stanford faculty is a critical component of all graduate students' education and additional resources can be found in the  Policies and Best Practices for Advising Relationships at Stanford  and the  Guidelines for Faculty-Student Advising at Stanford .

Learn more about the program through the links below, and by exploring the research interests of the  Chemistry Faculty  and  Courtesy Faculty .

PhD Program

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The Doctor of Philosophy degree is offered under the general regulations of the University as set forth in the Stanford Bulletin. This degree is recommended for those who expect to engage in a professional career in research, teaching, or technical work of an advanced nature in civil or environmental engineering.

A PhD at Stanford requires a minimum of 90 units of graduate study beyond the Masters degree. PhD students who arrive at Stanford with a Masters degree that did not provide adequate background in their area of specialization may be required take additional units beyond this minimum as part of their PhD studies. Students who are directly admitted to the PhD without a Masters degree are required to take a total of 135 units of graduate study. The department requires CEE PhD students arriving without a Masters degree to take sufficient coursework each quarter, until the GQE is completed, to satisfy the requirements for a CEE Masters degree by the end of their 6th non-summer quarter of PhD studies. Once the GQE is completed, steady progress towards the MS is no longer required. PhD candidates should develop individually tailored study plans and expected-progress timetables in consultation with their thesis advisors. 

GRADUATE PROGRAM MISSION

The mission of the graduate program in TAPS is to produce students who work in the leading edge of both scholarly and performance practice.

The Ph.D. program in TAPS emphasizes the combination of theory and practice. Graduate students complete a program with a rigorous study of critical theory, textual history, elements of production (directing, acting, choreography, writing, and design) and embodied research. We have a superb record of placement and the U.S. National Research Council ranked Stanford’s Ph.D. program in Theater & Performance Studies second in the nation.

Our generous funding package includes tuition, health insurance, travel award and a living stipend. This is a five-year fully-funded fellowship package which allows students to devote the first two years to full-time graduate study, the third year to graduate study and research, and years four and five to teaching and writing the dissertation. Following formal admission to candidacy (usually after the second year), the dissertation can be completed and approved within five years.

EXPLORE Ph.D. REQUIREMENTS

DOCTORAL PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES

The ph.d. is conferred upon candidates who have demonstrated substantial scholarship and the ability to conduct independent research and analysis in theater and performance studies. through completion of advanced course work and rigorous skills training, the doctoral program prepares students to make original contributions to the knowledge and production of theater and performance studies, and to interpret and present the results of such research..

Ph.D. Program

The training for a Ph.D. in Biology is focused on helping students achieve their goals of being a successful research scientist and teacher, at the highest level. Students work closely with an established advisor and meet regularly with a committee of faculty members to facilitate their progress. The Biology Ph.D. program is part of the larger Biosciences community at Stanford, which includes doctorate programs in the basic science departments at Stanford Medical School. 

There are two tracks within the Biology Ph.D. program:

• Cell, Molecular and Organismal Biology
• Ecology and Evolution

(Previously a part of the Department of Biology Hopkins Marine Station is now a part of the Oceans Department within  Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability )

All  tracks are focused on excellence in research and teaching in their respective areas; where there are differences between the tracks, they are indicated in the links below. 

Requirements & Forms

Dissertation defense, cellular and molecular biology training program, stanford biology ph.d. preview program, career development resources.

Scholarship Opportunities

Explore and sort the many global scholarships available to Stanford students, post-docs, and recent alumni.

Filter by location, opportunity type, eligibility requirements, application deadlines, and more. 

View an index of scholarship opportunities

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Guide to Apply

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NeuroTech Training Program

Students bringing emerging technologies to advance neuroscience discovery and human health

The NeuroTech training program draws Stanford graduate students from the technical disciplines of engineering, computer science, statistics, applied physics and physics into the emerging world of neurotechnology. As a NeuroTech trainee, you will spend three years immersed in coursework, research, seminars and travel opportunities designed to introduce you to the unique questions and challenges facing the field of neuroscience, so you can apply your technical skills to advancing neuroscience discovery and human health. Working together with NeuroTeach Cohort Mentors and fellow trainees, NeuroTech students prepare to tackle these challenges and to become leaders in the emerging field of neurotechnology.

Meet our NeuroTech Trainees

NeuroTech Program

The NeuroTech graduate training program is only available to students who have already begun their PhD program at Stanford. If you are not currently a Stanford student, please follow the normal application procedures for the PhD program of your choice, and consider joining the Center for Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology’s mailing list here to learn more about seminars, symposia and other events.

“Technology advances have revolutionized how we study the nervous system and how we treat brain disorders. We fully expect this trend to continue, and our training program is focused on bringing top talent from engineering, physics and other technical disciplines into neuroscience to make this future possible."

Your neurotech experience.

Your NeuroTech experience can begin as early as in the fall quarter of the first year of your PhD with the Experimental Immersion in Neuroscience course, where you can explore if neurotechnology research matches your interests and goals.  Then, after formally applying to the NeuroTech program in the spring of your first or second year, your NeuroTech training will begin in the following year of your PhD, and last three years. 

As a NeuroTech PhD student, you will:

• Have access to NeuroTech Cohort Mentors to design a personalized course of study to support your research project, scientific and technical training, and academic, professional and career goals
• Participate in NeuroTech Training Seminars to practice scientific, communication, leadership, business and interpersonal skills;
• Engage in community building activities with your cohort and the larger Stanford neuroscience community;
• Have the opportunity to explore internships in academia or industry, and more

Diversity and Inclusion

One of the primary goals of the NeuroTech training program is to support diversity among researchers in the neurosciences. We encourage all interested students to apply, and particularly people from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM, to submit an application. We are committed to supporting the success of students from all backgrounds through a combination of mentorship and community building, and a commitment to aiding trainees in developing the skills needed to succeed in academia and industry. This includes providing opportunities for all students to learn more about both the obstacles that certain communities face, and about the value of inclusive and diverse collaborations.

Stanford diversity programs

Stanford has several programs to support newly admitted PhD students from underrepresented backgrounds, including the  ADVANCE Summer Institute  and the EDGE Doctoral Fellows Program . These programs help students develop skills and establish communities that can help them thrive at Stanford and beyond. Please contact [email protected] if you would like additional information.

Community Engagement

NeuroTech trainees have access to a variety of community engagement activities to aid them in building personal connections with other interdisciplinary scientists and achieving their research, training and career goals. See below for details on how to engage in these activities.

Seminars and symposia

The Center for Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology (MBCT) hosts a seminar series throughout the year, typically on a biweekly basis, that reflects the diversity of scientific approaches for studying the mind and brain. These seminars include a mix of Stanford faculty, faculty from other institutions and researchers outside of academia. Additionally, advanced student members present as part of the seminar series.

Annually, the Center hosts a Symposium related to a specific theme relevant to the scientific goals of the community. 

Student leadership opportunities

Each year, a student committee organizes the Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology seminar series, and takes the lead in soliciting speaker nominations from the community, inviting speakers and hosting their visits to campus. Additionally, students host the speakers for the annual Symposium.

A Student Advisory Council has been formed with the goal of enabling greater student input into the direction of the center. These students solicit feedback from the MBCT student community, and meet with the Center's leadership several times per year. The MBCT Social Committee brings together students for fun, informal gatherings over coffee and other beverages. The Social Committee plans several events each year, including events with other interdisciplinary graduate training programs on campus.

Trainee support

As a NeuroTech student, you and your cohort of students will be assigned one dedicated NeuroTech Cohort Mentor to receive complementary guidance and support. Each year you will work with this mentor to create or revise your individualized training plan in order to best address your particular research, career and personal goals.

Financial support

Over the course of their three years in the program, all trainees in good standing are eligible to use their NeuroTech Research and Travel fund of $7,500, of which up to $3,000 can be used to support their research, and up to $4,500 can be used to support travel to conferences or workshops. While funding is guaranteed for the 2023-2024 academic year, the exact funding amount for subsequent years is currently in conversation based on available funding resources.

To remain in good standing, trainees must submit an annual progress report that documents their progress toward completion of all program elements and demonstrates their commitment to the training, research and engagement aspects of the program.

Terms and Conditions

AI Ph.D.s are flocking to Big Tech. Here’s why that could be bad news for open innovation

The current debate as to whether open or closed advanced AI models are safer or better is a distraction. Rather than focus on one business model over the other, we must embrace a more holistic definition of what it means for AI to be open. This means shifting the conversation to focus on the need for open science, transparency, and equity if we are to build AI that works for and in the public interest.

Open science is the bedrock of technological advancement. We need more ideas, and more diverse ideas, that are more widely available, not less. The organization I lead, Partnership on AI, is itself a mission-driven experiment in open innovation, bringing together academic, civil society, industry partners, and policymakers to work on one of the hardest problems–ensuring the benefits of technology accrue to the many, not the few.

With open models, we cannot forget the influential upstream roles that public funding of science and the open publication of academic research play.

National science and innovation policy is crucial to an open ecosystem. In her book, The Entrepreneurial State , economist Mariana Mazzucato notes that public funding of research planted some of the IP seeds that grew into U.S.-based technology companies. From the internet to the iPhone and the Google Adwords algorithm, much of today’s AI technology received a boost from early government funding for novel and applied research.

Likewise, the open publication of research, peer evaluated with ethics review, is crucial to scientific advancement. ChatGPT, for example, would not have been possible without access to research published openly by researchers on transformer models. It is concerning to read, as reported in the Stanford AI Index , that the number of AI Ph.D. graduates taking jobs in academia has declined over the last decade while the number going to industry has risen, with more than double going to industry in 2021.

It’s also important to remember that open doesn’t mean transparent. And, while transparency may not be an end unto itself, it is a must-have for accountability.

Transparency requires timely disclosure, clear communications to relevant audiences, and explicit standards of documentation. As PAI’s Guidance for Safe Foundation Model Deployment illustrates, steps taken throughout the lifecycle of a model allow for greater external scrutiny and auditability while protecting competitiveness. This includes transparency with regard to the types of training data, testing and evaluations, incident reporting, sources of labor, human rights due diligence, and assessments of environmental impacts. Developing standards of documentation and disclosure are essential to ensure the safety and responsibility of advanced AI.

Finally, as our research has shown, it is easy to recognize the need to be open and create space for a diversity of perspectives to chart the future of AI–and much harder to do it. It is true that with fewer barriers to entry, an open ecosystem is more inclusive of actors from backgrounds not traditionally seen in Silicon Valley. It is also true that rather than further concentrating power and wealth, an open ecosystem sets the stage for more players to share the economic benefits of AI.

But we must do more than just set the stage.

We must invest in ensuring that communities that are disproportionately impacted by algorithmic harms, as well as those from historically marginalized groups, are able to fully participate in developing and deploying AI that works for them while protecting their data and privacy. This means focusing on skills and education but it also means redesigning who develops AI systems and how they are evaluated. Today, through private and public sandboxes and labs, citizen-led AI innovations are being piloted around the world.

Ensuring safety is not about taking sides between open and closed models. Rather it is about putting in place national research and open innovation systems that advance a resilient field of scientific innovations and integrity. It is about creating space for a competitive marketplace of ideas to advance prosperity. It is about ensuring that policy-makers and the public have visibility into the development of these new technologies to better interrogate their possibilities and peril. It is about acknowledging that clear rules of the road allow all of us to move faster and more safely. Most importantly, if AI is to attain its promise, it is about finding sustainable, respectful, and effective ways to listen to new and different voices in the AI conversation.

Rebecca Finlay is the CEO of  Partnership on AI .

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Old immune systems revitalized in Stanford Medicine mouse study, improving vaccine response

Those with aging immune systems struggle to fight off novel viruses and respond weakly to vaccination. Stanford Medicine researchers were able to revitalize the immune system in mice.

March 27, 2024 - By Krista Conger

“If we can revitalize the aging human immune system like we did in mice, it could be lifesaving when the next global pathogen arises,” Irving Weissman said. Emily Moskal

Planes, trains, boats, automobiles and even feet. During the past decades and centuries, global travel and human migration have made all of us more worldly — from our broadening awareness of the world beyond our birthplaces, to our more sophisticated palates, to our immune systems that are increasingly challenged by unfamiliar bacteria and viruses.

In the elderly, these newly imported pathogens can gain the upper hand frighteningly quickly. Unfortunately, however, vaccination in this age group isn’t as effective as it is in younger people.

Now a study conducted in mice by Stanford Medicine and the National Institute of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories provides tantalizing evidence that it may one day be possible to rev up an elderly immune system with a one-time treatment that modulates the composition of a type of immune cell.

The treatment significantly improved the ability of geriatric animals’ immune systems to tackle a new virus head on, as well as to respond vigorously to vaccination — enabling them to fight off a new threat months later.

“This is a real paradigm shift — researchers and clinicians should think in a new way about the immune system and aging,” said postdoctoral scholar Jason Ross , MD, PhD. “The idea that it’s possible to tune the entire immune system of millions of cells simply by affecting the function of such a rare population is surprising and exciting.”

Ross and Lara Myers, PhD, a research fellow at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, are the lead authors of the study , which was published March 27 in Nature . Irving Weissman , MD, professor of pathology and of developmental biology, and Kim Hasenkrug, PhD, the chief of Rocky Mountain Laboratories’ Retroviral Immunology Section, are the senior authors of the research.

A shift in the immune system

The targeted cells are a subset of what’s known as hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs. HSCs are the granddaddies of the immune system, giving rise to all the other types of blood and immune cells including B and T cells, which are collectively known as lymphocytes. As we age, our HSCs begin to favor the production of other immune cells called myeloid cells over lymphocytes. This shift hampers our ability to fully react to new viral or bacterial threats and makes our response to vaccination much less robust than that of younger people.

“Older people just don’t make many new B and T cell lymphocytes,” said Weissman, who is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor in Clinical Investigation in Cancer Research. “During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic it quickly became clear that older people were dying in larger numbers than younger people. This trend continued even after vaccinations became available. If we can revitalize the aging human immune system like we did in mice, it could be lifesaving when the next global pathogen arises.”

Weissman was the first to isolate HSCs in mice and humans in the late 1980s. In the years since, he and his colleagues have investigated the molecular minutiae of these cells, painstakingly tracing the complicated relationships among the scores of cell types that arise in their wake.

Some of these descendants make up what’s known as the adaptive immune system: highly specialized B and T lymphocytes that each recognize just one particular three-dimensional structure — perhaps a pointy bit here or a telltale knobby clump there — that betrays an invading virus or bacteria. Like trained assassins once they spot their mark, B lymphocytes churn out antibodies that latch onto the telltale structures and target infected or foreign cells for destruction, while various subtypes of T lymphocytes either demolish infected cells or raise a hue and cry to summon other immune cells to finish off the enemy.

The specificity of the B and T lymphocytes allows the immune system to have memory; once you’ve been exposed to a specific invader, the body reacts swiftly and decisively if that same pathogen is seen again. This is the basic concept behind vaccination — trigger an initial response to a harmless mimic of a dangerous bacteria or virus. In response, the lymphocytes that recognize the invader not only give rise to cells that eliminate the infection but also generate long-lived memory B and T cells that, in some cases, can last a lifetime. Thus, the system is primed when the threat becomes real.

Another key part of our immune system is called innate immunity, and it’s much less discriminating. In the blood, it’s run by a class of cells called myeloid cells. Like school janitors, these cells scour the body, gobbling up any unfamiliar cells or bits of detritus. They also trigger inflammatory responses, which recruit other cells and chemicals to infected sites. Inflammation helps the body protect itself against invaders, but it can be a major problem when triggered inappropriately or overenthusiastically, and aging has been linked to chronic inflammation in humans.

An evolutionary disadvantage

Ross and Weissman knew from previous research that during aging, the number of HSCs that make balanced proportions of lymphocytes and myeloid cells decline, while those that are myeloid-biased increase their numbers. This favors the production of myeloid cells. Early in human history, when people rarely left their birthplace and lived shorter lives, this gradual change probably had no consequences (it may even have been favorable) because people were likely to encounter all their surrounding pathogens by young adulthood and be protected by their memory lymphocytes. But now it’s distinctly disadvantageous.

Irving Weissman

The researchers wondered if they could tilt the balance back toward a younger immune system by depleting myeloid-leaning HSCs and allowing the more balanced HSCs to replace them. Their hunch was correct. Mice between 18 and 24 months old (doddering in the mouse world) that were treated with an antibody targeting the myeloid-leaning HSCs for destruction had more of the balanced HSCs — and more new, naïve B and T lymphocytes — than their untreated peers even several weeks later.

“These new, naïve lymphocytes provide better immune coverage for novel infections like those humans increasingly encounter as our world becomes more global,” Weissman said. “Without this renewal, these new infectious agents would not be recognized by the existing pool of memory lymphocytes.”

The treatment also reduced some negative outcomes like inflammation that can arise when an elderly immune system grapples with a new pathogen.

“Not only did we see a shift toward cells involved in adaptive immunity, but we also observed a dampening in the levels of inflammatory proteins in the treated animals,” Ross said. “We were surprised that a single course of treatment had such a long-lasting effect. The difference between the treated and untreated animals remained dramatic even two months later.”

When the treated animals were vaccinated eight weeks later against a virus they hadn’t encountered before, their immune systems responded more vigorously than untreated animals’, and they were significantly better able to resist infection by that virus. (In contrast, young mice used as controls passed all the challenges with flying colors.)

“Every feature of an aging immune system — functional markers on the cells, the prevalence of inflammatory proteins, the response to vaccination and the ability to resist a lethal infection — was impacted by this single course of treatment targeting just one cell type,” Ross said.

Finally, the researchers showed that mouse and human myeloid-biased HSCs are similar enough that it may one day be possible to use a similar technique to revitalize aging human immune systems, perhaps making a person less vulnerable to novel infections and improving their response to vaccination.

“We believe that this study represents the first steps in applying this strategy in humans,” Ross said.

The study also has interesting implications for stem cell biology and the way HSCs rely on biological niches, or specific neighborhoods of cells, for their longevity and function throughout our lives.

“Most people in immunology have believed that you lose these kinds of tissue-specific stem cells as you grow older,” Weissman said. “But that is completely wrong. The problems arise when you start to favor one type of HSC over another. And we’ve shown in mice that this can be reversed. This finding changes how we think about stem cells during every stage of aging.”

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grants R35CA220434, R01DK115600 and R01AI143889), the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, the RSNA Resident/Fellow Research Grant, a Stanford Cancer Institute Fellowship grant, and the Ellie Guardino Research Fund.

About Stanford Medicine

Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu .

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