Signal Processing Society Scholarship Program
The IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) awards scholarships of up to a total of US$7,000 for up to three years of consecutive support to students who have expressed interest and commitment to pursuing signal processing education and real-world career experiences. By generating interest and awareness among students, employers will gain insight about the value of investing in signal processing students as potential employees and assets to their companies, organizations, and institutions.
Students and graduate students from all 10 IEEE Regions are encouraged to apply!
The application opens on Saturday, 1 March 2025. The deadline to submit your application is Monday, 30 June 2025.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the SPS Scholarship Program staff team.
Scholarship Program Details
Prizes
Each scholarship recipient will receive:
- Up to a total of US$7,000 of financial support for up to three years of consecutive scholarship support. The total grant value will vary per region. The maximum support received each year is:
- Year 1: Up to US$2,000
- Year 2: Up to US$2,000
- Year 3: Up to US$3,000
- A certificate of recognition
- Publicity through IEEE SPS channels, including but not limited to, the Society newsletter, magazine, and social media
- Support, as requested, from IEEE Signal Processing Society leaders and mentors
All first-year recipients will receive complimentary IEEE and IEEE SPS Student membership, applicable only to their first year of support in the program. After the first year, awardees are responsible for covering membership renewal costs.
Eligibility
New Applicants
In order to qualify for a scholarship, new applicants must:
- Maintain IEEE Student or Graduate Student membership after first year of complimentary IEEE membership
- Maintain IEEE Signal Processing Society membership after first year of complimentary IEEE SPS membership
- Express willingness to consider a career in the SPS fields of interest, based on personal essay, classes taken, etc.
- Be pursuing an electrical engineering, information and communication technology, or computer science undergraduate bachelor's degree or graduate degree.
- Be enrolled full-time in a university that offers undergraduate or graduate courses, or a community college that offers undergraduate courses, with curricula that substantively covers the list of typical signal processing engineering fields of interest.
- Provide proof of completion of a minimum of three undergraduate or graduate courses that cover typical signal processing subjects at the time of application
- Have a minimum of a B grade point average or international equivalent, as outlined in the International Grade Conversion System by World Education Services, at their current educational institution.
After the initial year of support, in order to continue receiving funding, renewing applicants must submit a renewal application for each subsequent year following initial acceptance. They must also continue to meet the above criteria for the duration of their participation in the Scholarship Program.
Renewing Applicants
The evaluation for renewal application will be based on the following criteria:
- Recipients continue to meet the eligibility criteria, as noted in the eligibility section.
- Recipients must work in a position or otherwise obtained career experience within the scope of the signal processing fields of interest before renewal. This requirement can be met through a suitable internship, externship, co-op, or equivalent.
- Recipients must demonstrate academic progress in signal processing coursework toward a foundational education toward a signal processing career.
- Recipients must submit transcripts demonstrating that they fulfilled their previously submitted academic plan for completing courses on the list of signal processing engineering subjects and have maintained a minimum of a B overall grade point average or international equivalent across all courses taken at their university or institution.
- Recipients must demonstrate that they have pursued extracurricular opportunities to learn more about signal processing careers by way of mentorships, field trips, attendance of SPS and other signal processing-related events, research projects, attendance of webinars or online courses, participation in an SPS Chapter, etc.
Eligibility and Selection process shall comply with procedures and regulation established in IEEE and Society governing documents, particularly with IEEE Policy 4.4 on Awards Limitations.
Selection
Selection of applicants will be competitive. Applications will be sent to the SPS Scholarship Committee for scoring, ranking and selection and will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Academic preparation (GPA or equivalent, reference letter from faculty member or instructor, electrical engineering, information and communication technology or computer science major, planned courses, etc.)
- Extracurricular activities and leadership (volunteer activities, achievements, etc.)
- General interest in engineering and focused interest in signal processing fields of interest (motivation letter, reference letter from faculty member or instructor, etc.)
- Quality of application (clarity, thoroughness, responsiveness, consistency, satisfaction of criteria, etc.)
- Overall assessment of student’s potential for and sustained interest in a successful signal processing career
Funding
The SPS Scholarship Program will be funded through donations to the IEEE Foundation Signal Processing Society Student and Young Professionals Fund (SYP Fund). The SYP Fund receives steady individual and corporate contributions through SPS conferences, our Student Job Fair, as well as other activities and donations.
Scholarship funds will be distributed directly to the recipients’ educational institutions, IEEE Sections, or other. No funds will be directly paid to students. If there is more than one recipient at a single institution, only one transfer of funds will be sent for all recipients and earmarked for each individual student.
Timeline
| 1 March 30 June 30 September 15 October November SPS Newsletter Issue | Application period opens Application period deadline Applicants notified of results Deadline for submission of supplemental information/confirmation of selection Scholarship Recipients announced |
SPS Scholarship Program Frequently Asked Questions
First-year applicants do not need to be an IEEE or SPS member! However, returning applicants who were awarded in the prior year(s) must have an active IEEE and SPS membership.
Are graduate students eligible to apply?
Yes! Graduate students (Masters and Ph.D) are eligible to apply as long as they continue to meet all other eligibility requirements.
I finished my undergraduate studies and graduated, but not starting my graduate studies until August / September. Am I still eligible to apply?
Yes! If you will be a full-time student pursuing Signal Processing, and you meet your other eligibility requirements, you can apply for the SPS Scholarship Program. The form will ask for your current university/college and your university you will be enrolled in for the upcoming year (if you will be transferring or starting a new program).
Do I need to submit my transcript?
Yes. The SPS Scholarship Committee will confirm the GPA and coursework of an applicant when reviewing the application. The attachment must be the full transcript with final grades in courses taken up to that point. Receipts and bills of coursework will not be accepted towards this requirement.
My university/college does not use the 4.0 GPA system, how can I list my current GPA?
You are able to convert your GPA into a 4.0 scale by using the International Grade Conversion System, however you can also mention what your university/college uses in the submission for consideration.
I have not taken many courses related to Signal Processing in my institution. Can any ancillary courses in signal processing be used in this section, for example courses from Coursera, Skillshare, LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, etc.?
No, coursework must be from an accredited institution and not from a for-profit online service.
When are the recommendation letters due?
Letters of recommendation are due by the SPS Scholarship application deadline: 30 June at 11:59pm Eastern Time.
The form is asking for my cost per credit, but this is not how my university/college/institution charges for tuition. How should I respond to this question?
If your university charges one flat fee per semester, you can note that in the application. Please be sure to clearly note the currency of the tuition (USD, INR, EUR, CNY, etc.)
I was not able to submit my application by the 30 June deadline, am I able to submit a late application?
Unfortunately no, the 30 June at 11:59pm Eastern Time deadline is strict, and no late applications will be accepted.
This depends on the nature of the change to your application. If the update(s) are administrative (updated contact information, home address), these can typically be made with no problems. However, depending on how long after the 30 June deadline, updates to your academic information or letters of recommendation may not be considered if the information is already under review by the SPS Scholarship Committee. Please contact the SPS Scholarship team (sp-scholarship@listserv.ieee.org) if you are looking to make updates to your application.
When will I be notified if I was selected as an SPS Scholarship recipient?
Announcement to all applicants, whether or not they were selected as a recipient, will be announced by 30 September.
Will the SPS Scholarships results be announced publicly?
Yes, the recipients will be announced in the November issue of the SPS Newsletter.
SPS Scholarship will be asked to complete a form to update their information for the Certificate of Recognition and public announcement of the Scholarship Recipients.
How will I receive the scholarship funding?
Depending on the Region, there may be slight differences in disbursement. Scholarship funds will be sent directly to the recipient’s university to be applied to the recipient’s account.
If you have any questions not addressed above, please do not hesitate to contact sp-scholarship@listserv.ieee.org
