The power of computing can go a long way toward solving some of the world’s most vexing problems. This is why we are committed to fostering the next generation of technology-savvy researchers, through programs such as the Microsoft Research Asia Fellowship Program (opens in new tab). Launched in China in 1999 and expanded to the entire Asia-Pacific region in 2002, this program recognizes exceptional Ph.D. students in computer science, electrical engineering, information science, and applied mathematics, empowering them to realize their full potential as researchers.
The fellowship rewards doctoral students who have demonstrated exceptional research aptitude through concrete achievements at this early stage of their career—students like Yongtae Park of Korea University, whose research focuses on enabling mobile devices to communicate with the emerging Internet of Things, and Seunghoon Hong of Pohang University of Science and Technology, whose work aims to achieve semantic understanding of video content.
The Microsoft Research Asia 2014 fellows and advisors were honored during the Computing in the 21st Century conference in Beijing. They are shown here with Jeannette Wing, corporate vice president of Microsoft Research (tenth from the left); Hsiao-Wuen Hon, managing director of Microsoft Research Asia and Chairman of the Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group (tenth from the right); and Tim Pan, director of Microsoft Research Asia University Relations (far left).
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This year, 83 outstanding doctoral candidates from 45 leading research universities were nominated for the fellowship. The nominees included students from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. Their credentials were thoroughly evaluated by a review committee, and 27 finalists were invited to Beijing for an on-site interview. The top 12 finalists received the full Microsoft Research Asia Fellowship. Each of these new fellows will have the opportunity to complete an internship at Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, during which they will actively participate in cutting-edge research.
The 2014 fellows and their mentors were formally introduced during the sixteenth Computing in the 21st Century conference (opens in new tab), which took place on October 29, 2014, at Peking University. Jeannette Wing (opens in new tab), corporate vice president of Microsoft Research, and Hsiao-Wen Hon (opens in new tab), managing director of Microsoft Research Asia and chair of the Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group, presented the fellowship awards.
The new fellows enjoyed a roundtable discussion with 1992 Turing Award winner Butler Lampson (sixth from the left) and Tim Pan, director of Microsoft Research Asia Connections (fifth from the left).
In addition, the new fellows engaged in a roundtable discussion with Turing Award winner Butler Lampson (opens in new tab) and Tim Pan, director of Microsoft Research Asia Connections, which gave the students an opportunity to discuss their own research and, more broadly, to explore the means for attaining the highest quality research results. We’re eager to see what these talented young researchers achieve.
—Rui Li, University Relations Manager, Microsoft Research Asia
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