All applications will be considered for fellowships associated with Stanford Bio-X Bowes Fellowships, Bio-X Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowships (SIGFs), and SIGFs affiliated with the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute or Sarafan ChEM-H.
The Stanford Bio-X PhD Fellowship Program supports students working on cutting edge interdisciplinary research with the potential to generate transformative discoveries for the benefit of human health. Stanford Bio-X Fellows receive three years of tuition and stipend funding and join a community of biomedical and life science researchers, clinicians, engineers, physicists, and computational scientists to unlock the secrets of the human body.
To date, the Bio-X Fellowship program has awarded 406 PhD students. Graduates of the program hold professorships at Stanford and its peer institutions, and some continue to transition to successful careers in the industry sector including co-founding start-up companies.
Collectively, 25 Fellowships will be awarded to provide funding for three years beginning Fall Quarter 2025. Applications will be considered for the Stanford Bio-X Bowes Fellowships, Bio-X Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowships (SIGFs), and SIGFs affiliated with the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute or Sarafan ChEM-H. The Bio-X Leadership Council will evaluate all applications and, in conjunction with Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute and Sarafan ChEM-H leadership, determine which students will receive each award. For all fellowships, proposals must be interdisciplinary in nature, bringing together two (or more) separate fields of study.
| Key Information | |
|---|---|
| Application Opens | Wednesday January 8 |
| Application Deadline | Wednesday February 12 at 5:00 pm PST (including recommendation letters and e-mailed materials) |
| Award Notification | Thursday May 15 |
| Award Acceptance Deadline | Thursday May 22 |
| Award Start Date | Fall Quarter 2025 |
| Funding Period | Fall 2025 through Summer 2028 |
| To Apply | Carefully review the detailed information and eligibility requirements before clicking the APPLICATION FORM link below. |
Stanford Bio-X Fellows in 2024.
Award details:
- Stipend support: Three years of stipend paid over 4 quarters. In Year 3, fellows receive an additional $750 each quarter ($3000 for the year); fellows with TGR enrollment prior to Year 3 also receive an additional $750 in stipend per quarter.
- Tuition support: In Years 1 and 2, fellows receive 8 - 10 units for Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters, and 3 units of support for Summer quarter. In Year 3, fellows receive TGR tuition for four quarters.
- Deferrals: The start date of the fellowship can be postponed for a maximum of two academic quarters. The maximum deferral allowed during the entire fellowship is two academic quarters.
Application Components and Eligibility Criteria
For the Stanford Bio-X Bowes Fellowships, read the full eligibility requirements below before applying. For information about the Bio-X SIGFs, SIGFs affiliated with the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute or with Sarafan ChEM-H eligibility, award terms, and policies, click here.
Based on the nature of the proposal, it may be decided that an application is more competitive if reviewed for a different Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship (SIGF). If so, Bio-X will send the application to VPGE to be reviewed by them instead. Similarly, applications submitted to VPGE may be reviewed by Bio-X. If this occurs, the student applicant will be notified.
Eligibility:
- Graduate students must be starting their second, third, or fourth year of graduate-level work on September 22, 2025.
- Time spent in a Stanford master’s program is included in the year count of graduate-level work (i.e. the year count is a sum of the master’s plus doctoral quarters) unless the field of the master’s degree is clearly different from the Ph.D. program judged by Bio-X Faculty Reviewers.
- The applicant must be officially active in a Ph.D. program by the application deadline.
- Because these fellowships are collaborative in nature, it is important to become a part of the research community; therefore, awards are meant for on-site research. Fellows working remotely need to be pre-approved by both the faculty mentor and Bio-X.
- The Stanford Bio-X Bowes Fellowships may not be combined with any other full fellowship awards (i.e. tuition support and stipend at the SIGF level).
Application details:
It is extremely important that your proposal is interdisciplinary (bringing together two or more separate fields of study) with at least two faculty members who are both Stanford Bio-X affiliated faculty involved in your proposed project as mentors. Preference will be given to students who are jointly mentored by at least two faculty members who are expert in distinctly separate areas of science and technology.
1. Application questions include:
- 100-word (maximum) abstract of your research.
- 50-word (maximum) explicit explanation of how your project is interdisciplinary with the involvement of your faculty mentors.
- Educational information along with education level (undergraduate and graduate), institution name, department, degree, date, and current GPA at Stanford.
- Description of any sources of present forms of tuition or stipend funding. In addition, the names of any other fellowship applications applied for the 2025-2026 academic year.
- Your advisor, co-advisor, and any additional faculty collaborator(s) on the proposed project. You must identify at least one faculty co-advisor (or co-mentor) for your work. Additional collaborators are optional. For the purposes of the application, a faculty co-advisor does not have to be an officially recognized departmental co-advisor; instead, this is a second faculty mentor who is integral to your proposed project. Both of your faculty mentors must be Stanford Bio-X affiliated faculty.
2. Interdisciplinary research plan and CV (PDF attachment)
- The interdisciplinary nature of the proposal must be clearly defined and evident in the research plan.
- At least two Stanford Bio-X affiliated faculty mentors must be involved in the proposed project.
- Document must follow the NIH format of font (size, color, type density), line spacing, page size, and margins. (Reviewers are aware of this requirement and deviation from the format may adversely affect your application.)
- The research plan, including all text and figures, must be no more than four pages in length. References should be on a separate page and must be no more than one page in length.
- Curriculum vitae must be no more than two pages in length. CV does not need to follow the NIH format but size, spacing, and font should be legible.
3. Two recommendation letters, one from your faculty advisor and one from your co-advisor (submitted via email to bio-x_fellowship_applications@stanford.edu)
- Letters must include a statement regarding the interdisciplinary nature of the proposal.
- Letters from anyone other than faculty advisor and co-advisor will not be accepted.
- Give the faculty a few weeks' advance notice and check with them several times to ensure that your letter is done on time. Late reference letters will not be accepted. Asking faculty for references should be the first thing you do for your application - we recommend giving your faculty an earlier deadline to ensure you receive your letters on time.
4. Transcripts (in PDF form)
- Copy of graduate degree transcripts (leave section blank if none)
- Scans must not be secured so that the file can be merged with other application components.
- Scans must include an explanation of the grading system. The grading legend is typically found on the reverse page of a transcript, but if there is none, include an explanation of grades from the institution’s website.
- Undergraduate transcripts are not requested and should not be included.
- Unofficial copy of Stanford transcript
- Downloaded from Axess in landscape format.
- Must include Winter 2025 information.
- Must show that you are active in a PhD program by Winter 2025.
Make certain that:
- Your faculty advisor and co-advisor (not postdocs, consulting faculty, etc.) are Stanford Bio-X affiliates. Visit: https://biox.stanford.edu/person-group/affiliated-faculty to confirm.
- You are active in a PhD program by Winter 2025. This must be reflected in your Stanford transcript.
For questions about the application process or technical issues, please contact: bio-x_fellowship_applications@stanford.edu
Stanford Bio-X Fellows in 2022.