Google Research Awards: Summer, 2012

We’ve just finished the review process for the latest round of the Google Research Awards, which is our bi-annual open call for proposals on research in areas of mutual interest with Google. Our funding provides full-time faculty the opportunity to fund a graduate student and work directly with Google research scientists and engineers.

This round, we are funding 104 awards across 21 different focus areas for a total of nearly $6 million. The subject areas that received the highest level of support this time were systems and infrastructure, human computer interaction, and mobile. In addition, 28% of the funding was awarded to universities outside the U.S.

Given that our program is merit-based, we make funding decisions via committees of experts, who assess each proposal by its impact, innovation, relevance to Google, and other factors. Over the past two years, we have seen significant growth in the Research Award program. This round, we had 815 proposals—up 11% from last round, which required 1,946 reviews by 654 reviewers.

Our award committees represent a microcosm of Research @ Google. Not only do we work with research scientists in making funding decisions, but also engineers—many of whom have advanced degrees in Computer Science. Our research organization has a similar make-up: both research scientists and engineers working together on innovative projects that are product-focused and relevant to our customers.

Congratulations to the well-deserving recipients of this round’s awards. If you are interested in applying for the next round (deadline is October 15), please visit our website for more information.