The final winners are selected via a two step process: (i) reviewers from Qualcomm R&D selects a list of finalists who should prepare a presentation about their proposal; (ii) after finalists presentation, the judging panel selects the winners.
Announcement
FAQs
Winners
Accepting applications October 5 - 19, 2009
We believe that research and development is the key to harnessing the power of imagination and to discovering new possibilities. We are excited to announce a new kind of fellowship that promotes Qualcomm’s core values of innovation, execution and teamwork. Our goal is to enable students to pursue their futuristic innovative ideas.
Qualcomm is inviting applications for the Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship from outstanding graduate (MS/PhD) students in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments at UC Berkeley and Stanford University. We will be awarding fellowships to two winning teams for the 2010 calendar year. Teams are limited to two students.
Each of the two winning teams will be awarded a $100,000 fellowship for submitting the most innovative ideas. The respective academic departments at UC Berkeley and Stanford will administer funds to the winning students for their fellowship work and research expenses for the calendar year of 2010. Total funding for two teams x two students x $50,000 each = $200,000.
Applications proposing ideas in all traditional areas of wireless communications, networking, and computer architecture are welcome. Further, we highly encourage applications in new areas of wireless, such as:
- Web technologies (browsers, compilers, languages, parallel algorithms, etc.)
- Mobile device software and applications
- Position determination technologies
- Position based technologies and services
- Augmented reality
- User experience and human interface
- Healthcare
- Green and clean technologies
- Applications for developing markets
- Machine learning
- Multi-core technologies
- Cloud computing
- Etc.
Faculty & Mentor
In addition to the faculty advisor(s) to guide the fellowship research, Qualcomm will also provide industry experts to mentor the teams, as well as regular collaboration opportunities with Qualcomm Research & Development to further assist with projects. Successful projects will be reevaluated after one year for further research funding from Qualcomm.
More Info?
Qualcomm will hold information sessions at each university:
- Berkeley: Wozniak Lounge, Soda Hall; September 16th, 6pm-7pm
- Stanford: Packard 101, Packard Building; September 17th, 5pm-6pm.
please send your questions to innovation.fellowship@qualcomm.com
Timeline
- We begin accepting applications on Monday, October 5, 2009
- The application deadline is Monday, October 19, 2009
- Finalists will be announced in early November
- Award ceremony in late November
Application Process
Applications must be submitted online by the deadline above. You are required to submit the three following items (in PDF or Word format):
- Three page proposal summarizing your innovative idea
- Letter from one or more faculties recommending the innovation
- Your CV
Please check back to this page regularly for application and program updates.
Application Rules
Can you have students from different advisers on a team?
Absolutely
Can students without advisers participate?
Sure, but they are encouraged to find a like-minded faculty to recommend the innovation
How should we submit the proposal?
There will be a website to upload your application material (i.e. Proposal, Recommendation letter, CVs). It will be open from October 4-18
Can you have one student from Stanford/Berkeley, and one from outside?
No, since the money is awarded as a fellowship through the school
Can you have one student from Stanford and one from Berkeley?
Not this time
Can you have one from EE and one from CS (in Stanford)?
Of course
Any restrictions on citizenship?
None
Can a team of one apply?
Nope - we are encouraging teamwork as one of the key aspects
Can Visiting Scholars or Post Docs be applicants?
Unfortunately, visiting scholars are not eligible to apply for the fellowship this time. You are welcome to discuss your proposal and be guided by your visiting scholar associate or your faculty adviser, but both applicants must be EE/CS graduate students
Can someone form two separate two-person teams and enter the Qualcomm Fellowship competition with two project proposals and be a
You are very welcome to submit two applications, with two different teams
Proposal
What does "innovation proposal" mean?
| - | Description of a new innovative idea/problem/solution that you plan to develop |
| - | Describe the innovation idea, and what you propose to do |
| - | If the innovation research is long-term (e.g. 5 years), try to provide a 1-year horizon |
| - | Describe the teamwork aspect, i.e. what is each team member's proposed contribution to the innovation |
What size of proposal do you expect?
approx 3 pages
Who owns the intellectual property from the applications?
Students / University
Who owns the intellectual property developed during the course of the Fellowship?
Students / University
Does the proposal have to be the same as the research plan for your Ph.D. under your supervisor for the next year? i.e. can the
The proposal can indeed be different from your thesis
If the winning proposal is for a non-primary research project, how many hours of work per week do you expect the winners to spen
There is no strict requirement on how much time you are expected to spend. We expect the winning projects to be interesting and exciting enough that the winners will want to spend time on the project. In addition to the Fellowship, Qualcomm will assist by providing mentor, and the recommending faculty would be another likely resource for help. Internships in the summer are also possible
Is there any preference on incremental vs. long-term ideas?
No, both types of proposals are welcome
Should the proposed ideas be commercializable?
Not at all. It could be pure research
Are proposal outside of the listed areas acceptable?
Can the recommending faculty be from another university?
What should be the scope of the recommendation letter from the faculty?
Awards
What is the judging process?
How many Fellowships will be awarded?
Is there an "awards quota" for schools or regions?
What happens if the applicant already has a fellowship?
Do funds expire after 1 year?
Are proposals for projects that are aligned with Qualcomm’s business interests favored, or will proposals be selected purely on
Afterwards
What will Qualcomm provide post-Fellowship?
Special instructions for previous QInF Applicants
Can previous QInF applicants apply again?
Can QInF 2010 applicants get feedback on their application?
We believe that research and development is the key to harnessing the power of imagination and to discovering new possibilities. We are excited to announce a new kind of fellowship that promotes Qualcomm’s core values of innovation, execution and teamwork. Our goal is to enable students to pursue their futuristic innovative ideas.
Qualcomm invited applications for the Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship from outstanding graduate (MS/PhD) students in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments at UC Berkeley and Stanford University. Fellowship applications included an innovation proposal by a team of two students and at least one faculty advisor recommending the idea. We received total of 46 (23 from UC Berkeley and 23 from Stanford University) very interesting applications from which eight teams were initially selected as finalists and then two teams were awarded fellowships for the 2010 calendar year for their innovation proposal.
On November 18th, Qualcomm held an award ceremony in its Santa Clara campus where the finalists presented their proposals to their peers and the Qualcomm researchers and engineers. All sixteen students of the eight finalist teams received a Kindle for their hard work and excellent proposals. After the dinner, the winners of QInF 2009 were announced.
Each of the two winning teams received a $100,000 fellowship award for submitting the most innovative ideas. The respective academic departments at UC Berkeley and Stanford University will administer funds to the winning students for their fellowship work and research expenses for the calendar year of 2010. Total funding for two teams x two students x $50,000 each = $200,000. Additionally, Qualcomm has assigned a research mentor to each team to help bring their proposal to reality. Qualcomm has also made available offices and labs at Qualcomm Research Silicon Valley to facilitate closer interaction and collaborations with the teams.
Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship (QInF) 2009 Finalists
| Submission | School | Students | Recommender | Proposal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S0007 | Stanford | David Chen Sam Tsai |
Bernd Girod | Large Scale Mobile Visual Search |
| S0008 | Berkeley | Michael Mark David Chen |
Jan Rabaey | Energy Neutral Wireless Links for Microscopic Biosensors |
| S0013 | Berkeley | Leo Meyerovich Seth Fowler |
Ras Bodik | Parallel Web Browsing for Mobile Devices |
| S0016 | Stanford | David Stavens Jesse Levinson |
Sebastian Thrun | Precision Localization for Indoor Environments |
| S0037 | Berkeley | Mohit Bansal Adam Pauls |
Dan Klein | Handheld-Assisted Translation |
| S0046 | Stanford | Leslie Wu Sharon Lin |
Pat Hanrahan | Adaptive and Adaptable Map Interfaces for Geospatial Sensemaking On the Go |
| S0056 | Stanford | Jerry Talton Siddhartha Chaudhuri |
Vladlen Koltun | 3D Modeling for Everyone |
| S0065 | Berkeley | Peter Alvaro Neil Conway |
Joseph Hellerstein | Lincoln: A Data-Centric Approach to Distributed Programming |
Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship (QInF) 2009 Winners
| Submission | School | Students | Recommender | Qualcomm Mentors | Proposal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S0013 | Berkeley | Leo Meyerovich Seth Fowler |
Ras Bodik | Calin Cascaval, Mehrdad Reshadi | Parallel Web Browsing for Mobile Devices |
| S0016 | Stanford | David Stavens Jesse Levinson |
Sebastian Thrun | Ayman Naguib, Alok Aggarwal | Precision Localization for Indoor Environments |
QInF 2009 Award Ceremony Pictures
The QInF09 judging committee and the finalists holding up their Kindles.
The QInF09 winner’s plaque.
The QInF09 winners from Berkeley, Leo Meyerovich and Seth Fowler, with Nayeem Islam, head of Qualcomm Research Silicon Valley.
The QInF09 winners from Stanford, David Stavens and Jesse Levinson, with Nayeem Islam, head of Qualcomm Research Silicon Valley.