Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship 2027

The Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship 2027 offers a four-year machine learning PhD with joint supervision at the University of Cambridge in the UK and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany. Successful candidates conduct research at both institutions and receive their doctoral degree from Cambridge. Applications are open to academically strong candidates from Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Engineering and related fields, including qualified international applicants. The application deadline is 31 October 2026 (CET).

This fellowship has a specific application process. You must apply to the ELLIS PhD Programme, submit a separate Cambridge PhD in Engineering application, and email your documents to the Cambridge–Tübingen programme. Although Cambridge offers doctoral funding opportunities, the announcement does not guarantee a fixed stipend or fully funded package for every applicant.

Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship 2027: Quick overview

Programme details	Information
Official programme	Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship
Institutions	University of Cambridge and Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Countries	United Kingdom and Germany
Intake	2027
Degree	PhD awarded by the University of Cambridge
Research field	Machine Learning and related interdisciplinary research
Duration	Four years
Research locations	Approximately three years at one institution and one year at the other
Eligible applicants	Strong candidates from Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering and related fields
Nationality	International applicants eligible
Funding	Cambridge funding routes and supervisor/institutional funding arrangements
Application deadline	31 October 2026 (CET)
Interviews	December 2026
Application procedure	ELLIS application, Cambridge application and direct email submission

What is the Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship?

The Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship is a joint doctoral research initiative established in 2014 between the University of Cambridge Machine Learning Group and the Empirical Inference Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen.

The programme is designed for researchers whose academic interests align with supervisors at both institutions.

Unlike a conventional PhD conducted primarily within one university, this fellowship involves an extended research stay at a second institution. Students benefit from joint academic supervision while working toward a Cambridge doctoral degree.

The programme lasts four years and includes initial coursework at Cambridge.

Admission is highly competitive, with only a small number of candidates selected.

Research areas and potential supervisors

The fellowship focuses on fundamental machine learning research and its scientific and social applications.

Applicants may explore research directions such as:

Probabilistic machine learning and Bayesian methods
Statistical learning and mathematical foundations of AI
Machine learning algorithms and computational methods
AI safety, reliability and responsible machine learning
Machine learning applications in scientific research
Interdisciplinary research involving physics, engineering and computational science

These are illustrative research directions rather than a fixed list of advertised projects. The programme does not impose additional restrictions on PhD topics, provided the proposed research aligns with available supervision.

The fellowship announcement identifies the following principal supervisors.

University of Cambridge: Carl Rasmussen, Jose Miguel Hernandez-Lobato, Adrian Weller, Hong Ge and Miri Zilka.

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems: Bernhard Schölkopf.

Applicants should consult the Cambridge Machine Learning Group and Max Planck Empirical Inference research pages before identifying their preferred research direction.

Researchers planning a longer-term academic career may also be interested in the Branco Weiss Fellowship 2027, which supports independent postdoctoral research across disciplines after completing a PhD. It is intended for a different career stage, so it is not a direct alternative for current PhD applicants.

Who can apply for the Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship 2027?

The fellowship welcomes academically strong candidates with relevant technical backgrounds and demonstrated interest in machine learning research.

Academic qualifications

Suitable academic disciplines include Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and closely related fields.

Cambridge identifies a strong mathematical foundation, practical computational understanding and previous research experience as particularly valuable.

Applicants with experience in statistical machine learning may be especially well prepared for the programme.

The ELLIS PhD Programme requires applicants to hold at least a bachelor’s degree. However, individual universities may impose additional admission requirements. Applicants without a master’s degree should therefore check the Cambridge requirements rather than relying solely on ELLIS eligibility.

If you are also exploring doctoral research opportunities in the UK, the Graduate Ellison Scholars 2027 at Oxford offers a fully funded DPhil pathway, including opportunities connected to AI and robotics. Its application routes and selection requirements differ from those of the Cambridge–Tübingen programme.

Can international students apply?

Yes. The ELLIS PhD Programme welcomes qualified candidates regardless of nationality, and the Cambridge–Tübingen announcement does not specify a nationality restriction.

Applicants from outside Europe should check the immigration requirements for their planned periods of study and research in the UK and Germany.

Is previous machine learning research experience required?

The announcement does not establish a fixed number of years of research experience.

However, Cambridge evaluates candidates partly on their research background. Previous work involving machine learning, mathematical modelling, algorithms or related computational research can help demonstrate readiness for doctoral study.

Strong academic results and references are also important.

Funding and financial support

Funding is one of the most important details applicants should examine before applying.

The Cambridge Machine Learning Group confirms that funding opportunities are available to doctoral students, including international applicants. Its general PhD admissions information states that students receive partial or full funding for the three-year Cambridge PhD period.

However, this statement should not be interpreted as confirmation of a specific four-year funding package for every Cambridge–Tübingen fellow.

The ELLIS PhD Programme also clarifies that it does not directly fund doctoral salaries or stipends, apart from smaller travel grants. Doctoral funding normally comes from supervisors and their institutions, with arrangements specified individually.

Which scholarships should applicants select?

The Cambridge–Tübingen announcement specifically instructs applicants to select the relevant funding options in their Cambridge application:

Cambridge Trusts
Gates Cambridge
Other Research Councils

Applicants should also indicate that they wish to be considered for Cambridge scholarships.

The official announcement does not specify a guaranteed stipend, tuition-fee coverage, accommodation allowance or travel budget for this particular fellowship.

Before accepting an offer, candidates should clarify the funding duration, tuition coverage, living allowance and financial arrangements for their time in both countries.

Applicants considering Gates Cambridge funding should also review our Gates Cambridge Scholarship 2027 guide, which explains scholarship eligibility, funding benefits, application rounds and deadline differences.

How to apply for the Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship 2027

The application involves three separate steps. Completing only the ELLIS application or only the Cambridge application is insufficient.

Step 1: Apply to the ELLIS PhD Programme

Submit your application through the official ELLIS PhD Programme 2026 call.

When selecting supervisors, the Cambridge–Tübingen fellowship instructs applicants to indicate supervisors from both Cambridge and the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen.

The ELLIS application includes academic information, research interests, supporting documents and references.

Its central application deadline is 31 October 2026 at 23:59 Anywhere on Earth (AoE).

Applicants must request their references through the ELLIS portal before the application deadline. Referees then have until 25 November 2026 to submit their recommendations.

Step 2: Apply to Cambridge’s PhD Programme in Advanced Machine Learning

Applicants must also submit a formal application through the University of Cambridge Applicant Portal.

The correct degree to select is PhD in Engineering, because the Machine Learning Group belongs to Cambridge’s Department of Engineering rather than its Department of Computer Science.

Applicants should identify an appropriate Machine Learning Group supervisor and complete the required research and academic sections.

Cambridge generally asks for a research proposal of approximately two pages. The proposal should demonstrate your ability to identify meaningful research questions, but it does not permanently determine your eventual PhD topic.

Remember to select the relevant scholarship and funding options.

Important: Download a copy of your completed Cambridge application before submitting it. The programme warns that the application may no longer be accessible for downloading after submission.

Step 3: Email your documents to the Cambridge–Tübingen programme

After completing both applications, email the programme at:

camtue@is.mpg.de

Use this subject line:

Cambridge-Tuebingen PhD fellowship

Your email should explain how your research interests align with the fellowship and its available supervisors.

The programme asks applicants to arrange for the following documents to be sent:

Copy of the Cambridge PhD application
Academic CV
Motivation letter
Bachelor’s and master’s transcripts, as applicable
Two reference letters associated with the Cambridge PhD application

Applicants should coordinate with their referees so that the required letters reach the programme through the appropriate process.

All three application steps must be completed by the Cambridge–Tübingen fellowship deadline.

For help organizing your research-fit explanation, Careers Help Desk offers a free Academic Cold-Email Generator for professors and research supervisors. Use it to prepare your wording, but follow the programme’s exact email subject line and document instructions.

Application deadline: Why 31 October 2026 matters

There are several dates associated with the Cambridge and ELLIS programmes, but they are not interchangeable.

Application or selection stage	Date
Cambridge–Tübingen fellowship deadline	31 October 2026 (CET)
ELLIS central application deadline	31 October 2026, 23:59 AoE
ELLIS referee submission deadline	25 November 2026, 23:59 AoE
Cambridge–Tübingen interviews	December 2026
General Cambridge PhD university-funding deadline	8 December 2026, 23:59 UK time

The general Cambridge PhD funding deadline of 8 December 2026 does not extend the earlier Cambridge–Tübingen fellowship deadline.

Likewise, the ELLIS portal’s AoE deadline should not be assumed to apply to the Cambridge–Tübingen email and university submissions.

Applicants should aim to finish all three stages well before 31 October, particularly because references and the Cambridge application copy require additional coordination.

Careers Help Desk Counter Angle: Supervisor fit matters more than a broad interest in AI

The most important distinction in this fellowship is its joint-supervision requirement.

A candidate may have excellent grades, strong programming skills and research experience, but still be poorly suited to this particular programme if their interests align with only one institution.

Cambridge evaluates applicants using three stated criteria: academic performance, references and research experience. The joint fellowship adds the practical requirement of finding a convincing research connection between Cambridge and Tübingen.

Applicants should therefore examine recent publications from potential supervisors at both institutions before preparing their motivation letter.

For example, rather than simply stating an interest in artificial intelligence, explain which specific research problems interest you, how your previous work prepares you to investigate them, and why supervision from both institutions would be useful.

If you need guidance on approaching prospective research supervisors, read our guide on how to email a professor for PhD opportunities. It includes practical email examples and explains how to demonstrate research alignment. For this fellowship, however, preliminary professor contact does not replace the required formal applications.

A further consideration: ELLIS permits applications only to supervisors participating in its current recruitment round. Applicants should check the available advisor list rather than assuming every researcher named on an institutional website is recruiting.

The Cambridge–Tübingen announcement also requires both applications to be completed in parallel. Waiting for an ELLIS selection decision before applying to Cambridge could cause you to miss the fellowship deadline.

Common application mistakes to avoid

Several mistakes could prevent an otherwise strong application from being considered.

Applying to the wrong Cambridge department: Select PhD in Engineering, not Computer Science.
Missing one application route: Complete ELLIS, Cambridge and the direct programme email submission.
Forgetting to download the Cambridge application: Save the completed form before final submission.
Overlooking references: Arrange your referees early and follow the separate ELLIS and Cambridge submission requirements.
Using the general Cambridge deadline: The joint fellowship closes on 31 October, earlier than Cambridge’s general December funding deadline.
Ignoring funding selections: Request consideration for the applicable Cambridge scholarships and funding sources.

Ready to Apply for PhD Fellpwships

The Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship 2027 is intended for applicants with strong academic foundations and a clear interest in machine learning research across both institutions. If your research interests match the available supervisors, complete the required applications and email your supporting documents before 31 October 2026 (CET).

Official resources:

For programme-specific application documents and enquiries, contact camtue@is.mpg.de.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is the Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship 2027 fully funded?

No fixed fully funded package or stipend is confirmed in the joint fellowship announcement. Applicants are instructed to select relevant Cambridge funding options, including Gates Cambridge, while individual funding arrangements must be confirmed.

Can students from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria and other non-European countries apply?

Yes. The programme does not specify a nationality restriction, and ELLIS accepts qualified international applicants. Candidates must also meet Cambridge’s admission requirements and any applicable visa conditions.

Is IELTS required for the Cambridge–Tübingen PhD Fellowship?

The joint fellowship announcement does not establish a separate IELTS requirement. Applicants should check the University of Cambridge’s current English-language admission requirements and any applicable exemptions.

Can I apply without a master’s degree?

Potentially. ELLIS permits bachelor’s degree holders to apply, but Cambridge’s degree-specific academic requirements must also be satisfied. Applicants should check their qualification equivalence before submitting.

Do I need to contact a professor before applying?

No. Cambridge states that contacting a faculty member beforehand is not compulsory. However, applicants should identify suitable supervisors at both institutions and explain their research alignment in the application.

When will interviews take place?

The Cambridge–Tübingen fellowship announcement schedules interviews for December 2026. This is separate from the general ELLIS recruitment timeline.

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