RBC Borealis Fellowships

Projects from any field are eligible to apply for the RBC Borealis fellowships, as long as they apply Machine Learning and/or Artificial Intelligence techniques/methods. 

As long as you will be enrolled in a Canadian University for September 2025 to August 2026 (or May 2026, if you are graduating in summer 2026) you are eligible to apply for a 2025-2026 RBC Borealis fellowship.

The applications for the RBC Borealis fellowships will be adjudicated by a committee. That means that the jurors will not be covered by your own NDA.

With this in mind, please apply with the part of the project that is not confidential. If unsure, kindly submit a different project that is not confidential. We will rely on you to make the best choice of a project proposal for yourself.

You have to be enrolled for this academic year (Fall 2025 – Winter 2026 – Summer 2026). If you plan to enroll in Fall 2026, then you will be eligible to apply for a fellowship in the next academic year 2026-2027), not this academic year (2025-2026).

Here is some advice and a completely generic structure for the argument, in case it’s useful to you:

Firstly, the description of the project is supposed to be a structured argument for someone to give you resources. A common mistake is to write a document that does not have a tightly organized structure. If you are lost and you need help getting started, then here is a generic structure for the argument:
     1. There is a big problem in the world that needs a solution.
     2. Previously people have done these things.
     3. This previous work has the following drawbacks.
     4. Something recent has happened that allows a way forward (new methods in other areas usually, or a new insight you’ve had).
     5. We propose to solve the problem, avoiding the drawbacks of previous solutions, by exploiting the recent thing that has happened.
     6. Here are some more concrete details about the approach we will take.

You don’t have to adhere to this 100%, but it’s a good start.

Secondly, it’s really important that you put in enough concrete details of what you plan to do. It’s not enough to just identify a problem. You have to convince the reader that you have a tractable way forward. There’s a balance to be struck here. On the one hand, you need to make it sound exciting and cutting-edge. On the other hand, you have to persuade the reader that you will actually be able to make progress.

No. Please feel free to use citations and bibliography as you see fit for your proposal. 

Please upload your most recent Master’s/PhD transcripts. Transcripts have a date on them, which is sufficient for us to verify that you are an enrolled grad student at a Canadian university for the academic year 2025-26.

Please submit only your most recent PhD transcripts.

You don’t need to upload extra documents for proof of publications. Kindly provide us with the list of the publications and the ArXve links to them.

Please try a different browser and the issue should be fixed.

If we still accept applications, please send your updated document(s) to amol.randhawa@rbcborealis.com. Use subject line: “RBC Borealis Fellowships 2025-26 – Update my submitted application”.

As a research institute ourselves, we understand that research goals change over a period of time. One may start with one idea and on the way tweak it or change it around. Please feel free to apply with the research idea, as you have it currently in your mind. If you are chosen and if by that time your idea has changed, you may write to us to explain the change that has occurred in the meantime. You would also need to outline the new project in the final report that the fellows submit to RBC Borealis at the end of their fellowship term.

Once you click on “submit” you will receive an email from fellowships@borealisai.org, saying: “Thank you for applying to the RBC Borealis Fellowship program. We have received your application and will notify you when your references submit their reviews.”

Please upload details pertaining to work or projects that you may have done, which are relevant to the broader AI community, extracurricular AI/ML projects, work with underrepresented groups in AI/ML or anything else that you think would be related.

Once you submit your application and enter the email addresses of your references, they will receive an email with instructions on how to submit their letters. The email will be from ‘fellowships@borealisai.org’ with the subject line: “RBC Borealis Fellowship Program – Reference for [Name]“.

Feel free to notify your references in advance that they will receive this email from us once you submit your application. They will receive a reminder to submit their letter once a week. You will receive a confirmation once both references have submitted their letters.

From: fellowships@borealisai.org
Subject: RBC Borealis Fellowship Program – Reference for [Name]

“[Name] has respectfully selected you as a potential reference in support of their application for the RBC Borealis Fellowship program. Please respond to this request by December 26th, 2025. To submit your reference or decline this request click here.”

11:59pm ET December 26th, 2025.

If one of your references didn’t receive the referral email, please first ask them to check their spam folders for an email from fellowships@borealisai.org. If the e-mail is still not there, that means that there was a typo in the email address you submitted. Please get in touch with us at amol.randhawa@rbcborealis.com with the correct email address so that we can update your application.

You will receive an automated message from fellowships@borealisai.org stating: “XX XX has submitted a reference letter for your RBC Borealis Fellowship program application.”
If you don’t receive this notification and one of your referrals says that they submitted their letters, it’s very likely that it was not submitted properly. We recommend that you get in touch with us at amol.randhawa@rbcborealis.com.

Unfortunately, we cannot create the invitation for the references before you submit your application. We recommend that you notify your referrals at an early time that you will need the recommendation to support your application and that they will receive an auto-request in their email to submit their letter once the application is complete on your side.

All applications will be reviewed by our Machine Learning Researchers.

Once adjudication of the applications is completed in Fall 2026, RBC Borealis will announce the winners on its website and social media. Feel free to follow us on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn), in order to get our latest updates.