Graduate Student Research Sponsorships

The majority of Member funds are used to seed graduate student research projects. The projects will be selected on a periodic basis by the IAB in consultation with the member affiliates; typically this takes place at the beginning of each academic year.

Sponsorships will be named in honor of the sponsoring company. If possible, efforts will be made to match a Member’s suggested research topic with a Member’s sponsorship.
The selected graduate student is typically employed as a research assistant by Stanford University and is usually pursuing a Ph.D. or other advanced degree. The Member sponsorship covers the student's tuition and health insurance as well as a monthly stipend.

The Member affiliate may be asked to cover any unique additional expenses of sponsorship, for example for travel and accommodation. These expenses can be covered directly or billed through SCPNT.

It is anticipated that the sponsoring Member will establish a mentoring type relationship with the student receiving the sponsorship. For example, a Member company may arrange to host a graduate student at the company's offices or at one of its project sites. Such a site visit is often an integral part of the student's research, since the Member affiliate provides the fieldwork and data necessary to motivate and validate the student's research. Member affiliates benefit by sharing and exploring the application of state-of-the-art and upcoming technologies.

Principal and Senior Members will annual sponsor one Graduate Student. Members desiring to sponsor additional Graduate Students Sponsorships may do so with an additional donation of $75,000 annually plus any unique expenses associated with the research topic.