Google PhD Fellowships directly support graduate students as they pursue their PhD, as well as connect them to a Google Research Mentor.
Nurturing and maintaining strong relations with the academic community is a top priority at Google. The Google PhD Fellowship Program was created to recognize outstanding graduate students doing exceptional and innovative research in areas relevant to computer science and related fields. Fellowships support promising PhD candidates of all backgrounds who seek to influence the future of technology. Google’s mission is to foster inclusive research communities and encourage people of diverse backgrounds to apply.
Process
Universities may nominate up to four eligible students. An internal selection committee will determine the University's 4 nominees. Students may apply by submitting all application materials including at least two letters of reference by the internal deadline of Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
Eligibility
- Students must have completed graduate coursework in their PhD by the beginning of the academic year in which the fellowship begins (Fall 2024).
- Students must remain enrolled full-time in the PhD program for the duration of the Fellowship or forfeit the award.
- Google employees, and their spouses, children, and members of their household are not eligible.
- Students that are already supported by a comparable industry award are not eligible. Government or non-profit organization funding is exempt.
- Past awardees from the PhD Fellowship program are not eligible to apply again.
Research Areas of Focus
The Fellowships are awarded to students who represent the future of research in the fields listed below. Please see here for complete descriptions.
- Algorithms and Theory
- Distributed Systems and Parallel Computing
- Health and Bioscience
- Human-Computer Interaction and Visualization
- Machine Intelligence
- Machine Perception
- Natural Language Processing
- Networking
- Quantum Computing
- Security, Privacy and Abuse Prevention
- Software Engineering
- Software Systems
- Speech Processing
Important Dates
Internal application deadline: Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Selected proposals will be submitted to Google prior to the close of the application portal on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
Application Materials
- Cover sheet signed by the Department Chair confirming the student passes the ALL eligibility requirements:
- Student is a full-time graduate student pursuing a PhD at the submitter's institution.
- Student has completed graduate coursework by the Fall of the award year (Fall 2024).
- Student is not already supported by a comparable industry award (Government or non-profit organization funding is exempt).
- Student is not a Google employee and does not have any members of this student's household that is a Google employee (spouse, parent, children).
- Student CV with links to website and publications (if available)
- Short (1-page) CV of the student's primary advisor
- 2-3 Letters of Recommendation from those familiar with the nominee's work (At least one from the thesis advisor). Letters must be submitted in the application portal by letter writers by the May 1 deadline.
- Research/dissertation proposal (Max 3 pages excluding references)
- Research Impact student essay (350-word limit) to: Describe the desired impact your research will make on the field and society, and why this is important to you. Include any personal, educational and/or professional experiences that have motivated your research interests.
- Leadership student essay (350-word limit) to: Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. (A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about what you accomplished and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities? Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church, in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family?)
- Transcripts of current and previous academic records (Official preferred; unofficial accepted)
Please complete all application materials via the application portal here.
Students should prompt their letter writers as soon as possible so they may upload their letters in the application portal by May 1.
Review
Applications are evaluated on the strength of the research proposal, research impact, student academic achievements, and leadership potential. Research proposals are evaluated for innovative concepts that are relevant to Google’s research areas, as well as aspects of robustness and potential impact to the field. Proposals should include the direction and any plans of where your work is going in addition to a comprehensive description of the research you are pursuing. In the United States, Canada, and Europe, essay responses are evaluated in addition to application materials to determine an overall recommendation.
More information available here.
Contact
Please send any questions to ogpafellowships@virginia.edu