Rice360 Global Health Fellowship FAQs

​The Rice360 Global Health Fellowship is a one-year post-baccalaureate fellowship for exceptional early-career engineers with an interest in medical technology for low-resource settings. The fellowship is open to graduating seniors and recent graduates who have received an engineering or physical sciences bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.

Application

What does the fellowship look for in a candidate?

The fellowship seeks graduating seniors and early-career engineers with a strong interest in technology development for global health. Eligible candidates should hold a bachelor's degree in engineering or physical sciences from an accredited college or university. Recent graduates may have up to three years of professional experience, or a master’s degree with up to one year of experience. Applicants must demonstrate technical background and skills, design experience, and a proven interest in global health technology development.

How do I apply?

Applications open annually in early December. Please revisit this page around that time to access the application link.

I am a foreign national, am I able to apply?

Yes, you don't have to be a US Citizen to apply. Foreign national finalist candidates are conditioned upon the university's ability to obtain employment authorization. Our institute works with the Rice University Office of International Students and Scholars to initiate this process and support the employment authorization request.

When will the applications for the yearly cohort open?

Applications open annually in December - January.

Selection and Interview Process: February - March

Decisions: April

Start: July - August

Can I submit an unofficial transcript?

Yes. We do accept unofficial transcripts.

Fellowship

Is the program full-time or part-time?

The fellowship is a full-time, 40 hr/week, in person on Rice University campus position, with working hours typically 9am-5pm.

What is the timeline for the fellowship?

The Global Health Fellowship is one year, with the opportunity for extension of up to 2 years. Cohort fellows typically start July-August.

What is the structure of the program? Does it include a coursework component?

The fellowship is a full-time 40hrs/week salaried position including benefits at Rice University with opportunities for professional development, attending conferences, seminars and potentially auditing one course per semester at Rice University but there is no formal coursework component of the fellowship.

Is it primarily based out of Texas?

Yes, fellows relocate and live in Houston, Texas with occasional travel throughout the USA and our partner sites across the world.

What can participants expect to gain from this program?

Participants can expect to gain hands-on experience leading the technology development of a global health intervention, learning how to transition a prototype from the laboratory to clinical studies to design for manufacture and commercialization. Since the timeline for medical device design, development and implementation is often 3-7 years, not all engineering fellows will directly work on a project across all those areas, but certainly will be exposed to all areas through other fellows projects. Depending on the stage of the project, a fellow may spend more time in early-stage R&D (design, building prototypes and conducting laboratory testing) or later stage development supporting clinical studies at hospital sites with beta prototypes and/or supporting technical documentation for notified body submissions.

Can I work on my project during the fellowship?

Fellows work on existing projects from our institute. Rice360 maintains its own portfolio of design projects from which Global Health Fellowship projects are assigned. These projects reflect the skills and expertise within Rice 360 and current partnerships. Projects are matched to fellows with considerations of skills, abilities and/or interests.

What does the technology team look like?

There are typically 3-6 engineering fellows at a time with senior engineer leads to help support all technology development projects.

What are the next steps after the fellowship?

Alumni go on to a variety of careers, typically in 3 main areas - continue on to medical school, continue on to future degrees in research (Masters degree, PhD or MBAs) and or go directly into careers in the medical device industry as engineers. Our current fellows as well as alumni can be found on our website here.

Post Application

How can I stay informed and connected?

We suggest you follow our social media accounts (@rice360glht) which will announce when Global Health Applications go live online as well as any other announcements coming from the Rice360 Institute for Global Health.

I still have questions...

You can contact us via email at rice360GHfellowship@rice.edu