MIT Kuo Sharper Center Student Fellowship — Fellowship

The Student Fellowship is the on-campus program of the MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship, a center based at the MIT Sloan School of Management, founded in 2007 and formerly known as the Legatum Center. It supports MIT students who are building innovation-driven ventures aimed at global growth markets, on the center’s founding view that entrepreneurs and their solutions advance sustainable and inclusive prosperity. Each year the center selects between 10 and 15 Fellows.

Fellows stay enrolled in their own MIT degree program and carry the fellowship alongside it for one academic year. The award combines money toward the cost of an MIT education, funding to visit the market the venture is meant to serve, and a structured layer of advisors, mentors and peer training.

The center runs its own selection, separate from MIT degree admission. The 2026–2027 round is closed.

Benefits & funding

Up to $15,000 per Fellow, applied to MIT educational expenses such as tuition, stipend and/or medical insurance. The exact award depends on the number of new Fellows and the pool of funding available that academic year.
Travel grants to visit the intended market of implementation during academic breaks.
Prototyping support.
A professional advisor, plus access to the center’s specialized mentorship network.
Access to community hub resources across MIT, including its entrepreneurial clubs and conferences.
Term: one academic year, held alongside the Fellow’s degree.

Eligibility

Either a current MIT student, or admitted to begin a full-time MIT degree program in the fall semester of the coming academic year.
Must remain enrolled as an MIT student for the full one-year duration of the fellowship. Students who will graduate during the fellowship year are not eligible.
Open across MIT degree programs; applicants may be pursuing any MIT degree.
Post-docs are not eligible.
Committed to being an entrepreneurial leader in a developing country.
Open to all nationalities. International students need no special visa arrangement for the fellowship and handle their status through MIT’s International Students Office as usual.
Applicants who are not yet MIT students must apply for and win MIT admission separately. A different committee reads each application, and the two decisions are made independently.

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Application process

1
Settle MIT standing first. Current students apply directly; prospective students apply to an MIT degree program on that program’s own timeline.
2
Complete the center’s online application form once a round opens.
3
Answer the form’s questions about the applicant, the venture, and the applicant’s standing at MIT.
4
Supply three professional references.
5
Upload a resume or CV of no more than two pages.
6
Final-round candidates are interviewed in person or by phone or Zoom.
7
Send questions to legatum-fellowship@mit.edu.

Program timeline

applications are closed. The center does not publish the closing date for the round.
2026–2027 cycle
Past cycles
the center has opened the next round in June for the following academic year.
Next expected window
around June 2027 for the 2027–2028 cohort. No date is confirmed by the center.
Fellowship term
one academic year, with the seminar, pitch events and staff check-ins spread across both semesters.