CGRS Fellowship Awards

Application for the AY2026 CGRS Fellowship Awards has commenced on 15 April 2026. A new Impact Doctoral Fellowship (ImDF) Award that aims to recognise doctoral research with real-world and societal impact will be launched this year and similar to the existing Presidential Doctoral Fellowship (PDF) and Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship (IDF) Awards, ImDF Award recipients will receive a higher stipend for a year if they are eligible to receive a scholarship during the award duration, and a research trip that is worth $4,000.

With effect from AY2026, the PDF, IDF and ImDF Awards shall be collectively termed as the “CGRS Fellowship Awards”. These prestigious awards aim to recognise the academic achievements of outstanding PhD students who are the top performers of the PhD cohorts across SMU in the prior academic year. More information on the criteria for each award and the past years’ recipients can be found under the “Past Years’ Winners” buttons.

Award Criteria

Presidential Doctoral Fellowship (PDF)
This award recognises existing PhD students who have demonstrated sustained excellence in research within their respective fields. It carries no course requirements and is conferred solely based on the quality and significance of research outcomes achieved during the PhD programme. 
 

Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship (IDF)
This award recognises PhD students who demonstrate excellence in interdisciplinary research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. Eligible research may span multiple disciplines across schools or integrate two or more research areas within a single school. Award recipients should show a clear ability to synthesise knowledge and methods across disciplines to advance fundamental understanding or generate solutions that could not be achieved within a single disciplinary framework. The award carries no course requirements and is conferred solely on the strength of research outcomes that demonstrate a coherent and impactful integration of approaches.
 

Impact Doctoral Fellowship (ImDF)
This award recognises existing PhD students who demonstrate strong research potential or impact in and/or beyond academia. It is conferred based on research contributions that have influenced, or show clear potential to influence, communities, industries, policies, learning ecosystems, or societal well-being, and/or have delivered demonstrable benefits to external stakeholders through research, educational innovation, or organisational initiatives. The award has no course requirements and is assessed solely in the quality and impact of research contributions across societal, cultural, economic, environmental, industry, or policy domains within the student’s field of study.
 

Documents for Fellowship Application

1. An updated copy of the PhD student’s resume.  

2. A candidate statement that highlights the PhD student’s achievements and it should focus on the significance of his/her research outcomes. Other noteworthy achievements in the PhD candidature may also be considered.

3. A recommendation letter from the PhD student’s dissertation supervisor that explains how he/she meets the award criterion. 
    

   All supporting documents should be submitted in Adobe PDF format, following the below naming conventions:

• If the PhD student is applying for more than one fellowship award, please ensure that the candidate statement and recommendation letter should contain a distinct elaboration on why he/she meets the award criteria for each of the award that he/she has applied for.  

• At the recommendation of the evaluation committee, each student may receive either the Presidential Doctoral Fellowship, the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship or the Impact Doctoral Fellowship. 

Award Duration

• 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2027

• At the end of the award term, recipients may be offered another fellowship or revert to the original scholarship scheme, if they are still eligible to receive a PhD scholarship.

Fellowship Award

• A higher monthly stipend, according to the current citizenship of the PhD student.

  Citizenship	Monthly Stipend2
  Singapore Citizen1	$5,300
  Singapore Permanent Resident	$4,800
  International Student	$4,300

  ¹Singapore Citizens will be provided with 17% CPF contribution.
  ²Monthly Tier 1 stipend rates that are applicable to PhD students from all SMU Schools.

  Caveat:
  The higher monthly stipend will apply only to PhD students who have not exhausted the full 4-year of SMU PhD scholarship.

• A research trip worth $4,000, which can be utilised within 2 years from the commencement of the award duration. The guidelines on ‘PhD Conference Funding’ will apply for the utilisation of the research trip. 

Application Information