Graduate Student Fellowships

Neil and Anna Rasmussen Fellowships

Anna and Neil Rasmussen established the Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics through a generous gift in November 2014. In January of 2023, they made an additional gift to support the Center’s next phase of expansion and to endow two graduate student fellowships.  

Neil and Anna Rasmussen Fellowships are 9-month (one academic year) awards. Doctoral students in, or working in research groups that are in, the Department of Biological Engineering (BE) and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) are eligible to apply. 

Fellowships are awarded to students who are conducting innovative, high-level microbiome research at MIT and who are deemed to have the greatest potential for impact on the field as future researchers, leaders, and advocates. Applicants will be evaluated for their research, academic performance, and strength as communicators.

Important Dates

Application deadlines for the 2025-2026 academic year will be announced shortly.

About Neil and Anna Rasmussen 

Neil Rasmussen (’76, SM’80) is a lifetime member of the MIT Corporation and a pioneering inventor and entrepreneur in the technology industry. From 1979 to 1981, he conducted research at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, working on flywheel energy storage systems and solar electric power systems. In 1981, he co-founded the American Power Conversion Corporation, a provider of power-management and protection devices and services. Mr. Rasmussen served as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer from the company’s founding until Schneider Electric SE acquired it in 2007, after which he served as Senior Vice President of Innovation at Schneider until his retirement in 2014. He is listed as an inventor on 38 U.S. patents.

Anna Winter Rasmussen is a leader and advocate for historical preservation efforts around the Concord, Massachusetts area. She serves as the Vice President of the Board of the Concord Museum, and is the executive director of Save Our Heritage, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting historical sites and environmental resources in the Concord area.