NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Program for PhD Research in AI, Accelerated Computing, and Robotics

NVIDIA's Academic Hardware Grant Program donates GPU hardware to qualifying academic researchers, with a specific track focused on AI Safety and Trustworthy AI research (including interpretability, alignment, evaluation, red-teaming, and bias/fairness). Awardees receive workstation- or datacenter-class NVIDIA GPUs delivered to their institutions for use in research projects. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through the NVIDIA Higher Education and Research portal. Projects must produce a publishable research output or open-source artifact and acknowledge NVIDIA's hardware contribution. The AI Safety track is specifically highlighted by NVIDIA's collaboration with the AI Safety Directory and prioritizes researchers working on interpretability, evaluations, robustness, and trustworthy ML. Strong fit for graduate students, postdocs, and early-career faculty doing AI safety, alignment, or interpretability research at universities without existing GPU access, as well as nonprofit AI safety research organizations.

NVIDIA's Applied Research Accelerator Program provides academic researchers with GPU hardware, cloud compute, and cash support in three tiers: Base ($20K for projects with real-world impact potential), Adoption ($60K for projects with commercial or government adoption plans), and Production ($160K when organizations invest in production conversion). The program supports research with practical applications in GPU-accelerated computing, AI, machine learning, data analytics, and HPC. Applications are reviewed quarterly with four annual cycles: Q1 submissions decided June, Q2 decided September, Q3 decided December, Q4 decided March.

Microsoft AI for Accessibility is a grant program that supports developers, nonprofits, researchers, and startups building artificial intelligence tools that empower people with disabilities and advance disability inclusion. Grants range from $25,000 to $250,000 and may include Azure compute credits, technical support, and access to Microsoft AI experts, with award sizes depending on project scope and available funds. The program targets AI solutions across employment, daily life, and communication that expand accessibility and independence for people with disabilities.

Microsoft's AI for Accessibility programme is a multi-year, USD 25,000,000 commitment funding nonprofits, universities and research organisations that build AI-powered solutions for people with disabilities. Individual grants range from USD 25,000 to USD 250,000, and the current cycle carries a deadline of 31 December 2026 - a year-end date that is unusually generous compared with the tight windows typical of corporate AI grantmaking, and one that rewards taking time to build a properly co-designed proposal rather than rushing. Scope covers AI applied to disability and accessibility across a growing range of tools: reducing barriers, supporting communication, improving independence, and providing caregiving assistance at scale. In practice this spans assistive technology, artificial intelligence, accessibility and software development, and the programme's framing - empowering people living with disabilities - signals that proposals grounded in lived experience and disability community partnership will read more strongly than technically impressive tools designed for rather than with disabled users. Eligibility is limited to nonprofit organisations and universities; the programme is generally open across the United States, though applicants should verify specific requirements directly with Microsoft since corporate programmes of this kind can carry country-level and entity-level conditions not stated in summary listings. One practical caveat: the award composition is not published. Microsoft's philanthropic programmes frequently combine cash with Azure credits, and a grant delivered largely as cloud credit funds a very different project plan than an equivalent cash award. Confirming the split with Microsoft before finalising a budget is worth the email. Application preparation involves confirming eligibility, gathering documentation, drafting the narrative and preparing a budget.

The F5 2026 STEM and AI Education Grants support nonprofits implementing STEM and AI education initiatives that prepare youth and underserved learners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America for the AI-driven economy. Funded organizations design programs that introduce AI literacy, foundational computational thinking, applied machine-learning projects, ethics of AI use, and pathways into STEM careers for students who would otherwise lack access. F5 prioritizes culturally adapted curricula, community-led delivery, partnerships with local schools and universities, and approaches that explicitly include girls, refugees, rural learners, and other underrepresented groups. Funded projects must demonstrate measurable learner outcomes and a clear sustainability plan beyond the grant period.