Brown CS PhD Student Rao Fu Has Been Named A Microsoft Research Fellow
- Posted by Jesse Polhemus
- on May 5, 2026
Brown CS PhD student Rao Fu has just received a Microsoft Research Fellowship, a competitive award that supports promising doctoral researchers pursuing innovative work in computing and related fields. The fellowship recognizes graduate students whose research shows exceptional potential and broader impact. In addition to research support, the program is designed to foster sustained collaboration through workshops, working sessions, and visits with Microsoft Research labs. For the 2026 cohort, Microsoft organized fellows and advisors across six broad themes from AI for societal impact to biological modeling and even human-AI collaboration.
Advised by Brown CS faculty members Srinath Sridhar and Daniel Ritchie, Rao’s research focuses on combining spatial intelligence with language-based reasoning systems. Her work explores how AI systems can reason directly in dynamic three-dimensional environments rather than only through text, including methods that extend 4D capture with generative models.
More recently, Rao has expanded that work into alternative sensing modalities like tactile data and biosignals. Her fellowship proposal centers on robot learning from these rich human data sources, translating demonstrations and signals into forms that robots can use to learn new capabilities.
“This fellowship is really a reflection of collaboration,” Rao says. “My work wouldn't exist without amazing collaborators across MIT, Duke, University of Washington, UC San Diego, Max Planck Institute, and Harvard.”
She also credited her mentors throughout the application process, stating that they always encouraged her to keep going even after applying to several fellowships before. “I especially want to shout out to my advisor Srinath Sridhar; he’s been incredibly supportive the whole way through,” Rao says. “It really takes a village.”
She also adds a reminder to students to check their email thoroughly: “One more thing, I actually found the fellowship email in my spam folder, so if you’re ever waiting on something important, definitely check your spam.”
The full list of 2026 Fellows can be found here.
Brown CS regularly publishes news articles about our pioneering and innovative faculty, students, and alums. We have no financial involvement in any of the organizations mentioned above and have not been compensated in any way for this story.
For more information, click the link that follows to contact Brown CS Communications Manager Jesse C. Polhemus.
