Frequently asked questions

Students receive named Fellowships which include a monetary award. The funds are given directly to the university to be distributed to cover the student’s expenses and stipend as appropriate. The funds are given as an unrestricted gift, and it is Google’s policy not to pay for overhead on unrestricted gifts. In addition, the student will be matched with a Google Research Mentor who we hope will become a valuable resource to the student. There is no employee relationship between the student and Google as a result of receiving the fellowship. Fellowship recipients are not subject to intellectual property restrictions unless they complete an internship at Google. Fellowship recipients serving an internship are subject to the same intellectual property and other contractual obligations as any other Google intern. If a Fellowship student is interested, an internship at Google is encouraged, but not guaranteed or required.

Africa

• Up to 3 year Fellowship
• US $30K to cover stipend and other research related activities, travel expenses including overseas travel
• Google Research Mentor

Australia and New Zealand

• 1 year Fellowship
• AUD $10K to cover stipend and other research related activities, travel expenses including overseas travel
• Google Research Mentor

East Asia

• 1 year Fellowship
• US $10K to cover stipend and other research related activities, travel expenses including overseas travel
• Google Research Mentor

Europe

• Up to 3 year Fellowship
• Yearly bursary towards stipend / salary, health care, social benefits, tuition and fees, conference travel and personal computing equipment. The bursary varies by country.
• Google Research Mentor

India

• Up to 4 year Fellowship
• US $50K to cover stipend and other research related activities, travel expenses including overseas travel
• Google Research Mentor

United States and Canada

• Up to 3 year Fellowship
• Full tuition and fees (enrollment fees, health insurance, books) plus a stipend to be used for living expenses, travel and personal equipment
• Google Research Mentor

*Google Cloud Platform credits are provided upon request in eligible countries.

In the United States, Canada, Europe, and East Asia, universities must be an accredited research institution that awards research degrees to PhD students in Computer Science or related field to be eligible.

In Australia and New Zealand, direct invitations for nominations are sent to the Computer Science departments and/or Graduate Funding offices of eligible universities.

In India and Africa, applications are open to students in Computer Science and related fields from any Indian or African university, respectively.

Restrictions: All award payments and recipients will be reviewed for compliance with relevant US and international laws, regulations and policies. Google reserves the right to withhold funding that may violate laws, regulations or our policies.

Nominated students in Australia and New Zealand, East Asia, Europe, the United States and Canada

Universities should only nominate students that meet the following requirements:

• Full-time graduate students pursuing a PhD and enrolled in an institution in one of the regions listed above.
• Completed graduate coursework by the Fall of the award year, when the Fellowship begins. This is usually the 3rd year for US and Canadian students.
• 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.

Direct applicant students in Africa and India

• Full-time graduate students pursuing a PhD and enrolled in an African or Indian institution.
  • Early-stage PhD students enrolled one year or less.
  • Applicants who are currently in their first year of a part-time PhD program and transferring to full-time positions. * Current undergraduate or masters students and professionals may apply. The Google Fellowship award shall be contingent on the awardee registering for a full-time PhD program of an African or Indian university in Computer Science or related fields within the calendar year of the fellowship, or the award shall be forfeited.
  • Applicants enrolled in an undergraduate or masters program must be current, full-time students at an African or Indian university.
  • Professionals must be employed/affiliated with an organization registered in Africa or India, and receipt of the award is contingent on them joining a full-time PhD program at an African or Indian university within the calendar year of the award.
  • Grant of the Google Fellowship does not mean admission to the PhD program of a university. The awardee must also complete the PhD admission process of the respective institute/university where he/she wishes to register for a PhD.
  • Grant of the Google Fellowship will be subject to the rules and guidelines applicable in the institute/university where the awardee registers for the PhD program. * 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.

Australia and New Zealand

For each student nomination, the university will be asked to submit the following material in a single PDF file:

1. Student CV with links to website and publications (if available)
2. Short (1-page) CV of the student's primary advisor
3. Transcripts of current and previous academic records
4. 2-3 letters of recommendation from those familiar with the nominee's work (at least one from the thesis advisor)
5. Research / dissertation proposal including references (maximum 8 pages)

East Asia, Europe, the United States and Canada

For each student nomination, the university will be asked to submit the following material in a single PDF file:

1. Student CV with links to website and publications (if available)
2. Short (1-page) CV of the student's primary advisor
3. Transcripts of current and previous academic records
4. 2-3 letters of recommendation from those familiar with the nominee's work (at least one from the thesis advisor)
5. Research / dissertation proposal including references (maximum 8 pages)
6. Student essay response (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.

7. Student essay response (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?

Africa and India

You’ll need the following documents in order to complete an application (in English only):

1. Student applicant’s resume with links to website and publications (if available)
2. Short (1-page) resume of the student's PhD program advisor (Africa only)
3. Available transcripts (mark sheets) starting from first year/semester of Bachelor's degree to date
4. Research proposal (maximum 8 pages)
5. 2-3 letters of recommendation from those familiar with the applicant's work (at least one from the thesis advisor for current PhD students)
6. Applicant's essay response (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

Check the eligibility for your university and eligibility for student nominations in your region before applying. The submission forms will become available on the main Google PhD Fellowship Program page when the application period begins. See application details for what to include in our FAQ above.

In Australia and New Zealand, East Asia, Europe, the United States and Canada, students cannot apply directly to the program; they must be nominated by an eligible university. Universities may nominate eligible students from Computer Science or related field during the respective application period for each region. Check eligibility, student nomination, and application time period FAQs for details.

In India and Africa, students may apply directly during the application period, which opens each February in India and November in Africa.

Universities in the United States and Canada may nominate up to four eligible students from Computer Science or related fields. If more than two are nominated, then in order to increase opportunities for students who are underrepresented in the field of computing, additional nominees must self-identify as a woman, Black/African American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Hispanic/Latinx, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and/or person with a disability. In other words, if a university chooses to nominate more than 2 students, then the 3rd and 4th student nomination should self-identify with the underrepresented group mentioned above.

Universities in Australia, New Zealand and Europe may nominate up to two eligible students.

Universities in East Asia may nominate up to three eligible students. If more than two are nominated, then in order to increase opportunities for students who are underrepresented in the field of computing, the additional nominee must self-identify as a woman.

In India and Africa, applications are open and we do not have a limit to the number of students that can apply from a university.

Materials must be submitted by chairs of the department from eligible universities, or their designated contact.

In India and Africa, students may apply directly during the application window.

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.

Research should align with Google AI Principles.

Incomplete proposals will not be considered.

All documents should be submitted in English.

Students must be nominated by an eligible university in order to be considered, except in India and Africa where students may apply directly.

Any monetary awards will be paid directly to the Fellow's university for distribution. No overhead should be assessed against them.

The funds are given as an unrestricted gift. Fellowship recipients are not subject to intellectual property restrictions unless they complete an internship at Google. If that is the case, they are subject to the same intellectual property restrictions as any other Google intern.

No, there will not be any employee relationship (except as an intern) between Fellowship recipients and Google.

Yes, Fellowship recipients are eligible for these scholarships. For more information, please see the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship or the Google Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities.

After Google PhD Fellowship recipients are notified, the Fellowship is effective starting the following school year.

Africa

Fellowship applications are received January-February each year. Awardees are notified by April.

Australia, New Zealand, and East Asia

Fellowship nominations are received March-May each year. Awardees are notified by July.

India

Fellowship applications are received February-April each year. Awardees are notified by July.

United States, Canada, and Europe

Fellowship nominations are received in November each year. Awardees are notified by March.

A global awards announcement will be made in September on the Google Research Blog publicly announcing all award recipients.

If your question has not been answered by a FAQ, email:

phdfellowship@google.com for United States, Canada, and Europe

research-programs-in@google.com for India

eastasia-ur@google.com for East Asia

google-eng-outreach@google.com for Australia and New Zealand

research-africa@google.com for Africa

Academic researchers cannot apply directly for the program. An engineering host at Google typically identifies researchers that would be suitable to collaborate with and submits an application for the program on their behalf. Connections with Google Researchers can be made on the ground at conferences and workshops.

We encourage Googlers to stay connected to the external academic community through the support of CS programs and collaboration with academics on research and publications. These efforts also help us tap into the knowledge and culture of academic labs, internal resources, and ways of thinking through complex problems.

You can find information on our programs for students on the Student Page of Google’s job site.

You can visit our student site at google.com/students.

For information on philanthropic initiatives at Google, visit the Google.org site.

If a professor needs phones, tablets, or Chromebooks for research purposes, he or she can submit an application to our Faculty Research Awards program requesting the budget needed to purchase the devices. Google does not currently have a program to provide Android phones or other hardware to be used for teaching or classroom purposes.

Please look through the entire FAQ above before writing in; we will not be able to respond to questions whose answers are contained in this document. For questions related to university research, please email university-relations@google.com. For questions about students, recruiting, on-campus events, or other non-research topics regarding universities in North America, please email campusevents@google.com. If you have questions specific to your region, you may send questions to emea-eng-campus@google.com for universities in Europe, Africa, or the Middle East, or to china-ur@google.com for universities in China. Please note that due to the high volume of emails we receive, we may not be able to respond to questions or requests that don't fall into one of the categories listed above.

Latin America refers to territories in the Americas where the Spanish or Portuguese languages prevail: Mexico, most of Central and South America, and in the Caribbean; the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico – in summary, Hispanic America and Brazil.

Proposals must be a single .pdf document written in English with a maximum of 5 pages organized as outlined below. Proposals outside of this format will not be reviewed.

Faculty members should use the following general guidelines for proposal submission:

• Permanent faculty members and students pursuing a MS or PhD from universities in Latin America are eligible to apply.
• Each proposal should involve both a single faculty member and a single student, either at PhD or MS level.
• As part of the online form, you will be asked to select one of the below topic areas. Please select carefully, as this will determine which of our review committees will review your proposal. We may, at our discretion, move proposals between areas. Please note that Google cannot accept any proposal containing confidential or proprietary information.
  1. COVID-19
  2. Geo/maps
  3. Human-computer interaction
  4. Information retrieval, extraction & organization (including semantic graphs)
  5. Internet of things (including smart cities)
  6. Machine learning and data mining
  7. Mobile
  8. Natural language processing
  9. Physical interfaces and immersive experiences
  10. Privacy
  11. Other topics related to web research
• Your project proposal should be organized as follows:
  1. Proposal (maximum 3 pages)
  2. Overview
     • Proposal Title.
     • Faculty full name, contact information (postal address, email address, phone), affiliation (university, school, college and/or department).
     • [Optional] The name(s) of up to two Google contacts. Contacts are defined as people at Google who are familiar with your professional work.
  3. Proposal Body
     • Abstract
     • Research goals, including a problem statement
     • Description of the work you'd like to do, as well as the expected outcomes and results
     • How this relates to prior work in the area (including your own, if relevant)
     • References, where applicable
  4. Data Policy
     • Google's research awards program is designed to support work whose output will be made available to the public and to the research community. To that end, we ask that you provide us with a few sentences sharing what you intend to do with the output of your project (e.g. open sourcing code, making data sets public, etc). Please note that Latin America Research Awards are structured as unrestricted gifts, so there are no legal requirements once a project is selected for funding. This is simply a statement of your current intentions.
  5. CV of the faculty member (maximum 2 pages)

No, applicants will not receive feedback on the proposal submitted.

Funding is intended to be used in the academic year the award is provided.

Awards are disbursed as unrestricted gifts to the university and are not not intended for overhead or indirect costs.

Notification of proposal decisions will be made in Summer 2020.

No, all applications must be submitted by 11:59:59pm on the day of the application deadline. Late submissions are not reviewed, and extensions are not granted.

Faculty may apply up to a maximum of 3 times within the 7 years they received their PhD.

Faculty can receive a Research Scholar award only once. Previous Faculty Research Award recipients are still eligible to receive a Research Scholar award.

Institutions:

• We accept applications from permanent faculty at universities around the world. Funding is focused on supporting the faculty’s research. We do not allow applications from non-degree-granting research institutions.
• Since our funding is structured as unrestricted gifts to degree-granting Universities, we cannot process awards to other institutions (e.g. not-for-profits institutions, hospitals, non-degree-granting research institutes, etc) even if they are affiliated with a University. A Principal Investigator must apply in his or her capacity as a university professor and must be able to accept an award through that University.

Principal Investigator Requirements:

• Global faculty who have received their PhD less than 7 years from submission from degree-granting institutions who are doing research within fields relevant to Google.
• An applicant may only serve as Principal Investigator or co-Principal Investigator on one proposal per round.
• We understand that titles may differ globally. In order for someone without the title of professor to apply, he or she must be a permanent faculty member at an eligible institution and serve as a formal advisor to masters or PhD students. We may, at our discretion, provide funding for Principal Investigators who advise undergraduate students at colleges that do not award advanced degrees.

Past Applicants:

• If an applicant’s proposal was not selected for funding the previous round, they are welcome to apply with a new proposal (or substantively revised proposal) the following round. A Principal Investigator can apply a maximum of 3 times within the 7 years post-PhD.

The application process includes filling out an online form requesting basic information and uploading a PDF proposal via the form. As part of the online form, you will be asked to select a topic area. Please select carefully, as this will help us in ensuring your proposal is read by the appropriate reviewers. Do not send any confidential or proprietary information in your proposal. Any information you send us as part of your application will be considered not confidential regardless of any markings or designations on it.

Yes. We focus on funding social science research that looks at technology's implications and impacts on individuals and society. We typically review submissions from fields like human-computer interaction, psychology, and science and technology studies, as well as research in computer science fields with a strong emphasis on the human experience.

• Below is an example of what a proposal may look like (though the relative length of each section may differ by proposal). The proposal should be a maximum of 5 pages which includes the 2-page CV of the primary Principal Investigator, which is required for all applications (a 2-page CV for each co-Principal Investigator is optional). We additionally request a Google Scholar profile link as part of the online application form. Our reviewers find it helpful to be able to easily reference a Principal Investigator's publication history to see how the current proposal relates to past work the Principal Investigator has done in relevant fields. The Google Scholar profile complements, but does not replace, the Principal Investigator's 2-page CV. We do not require a budget breakdown since we have flat funding amounts we will grant based on region.
• We would prefer proposals to respect a minimum 10pt font size and 1-inch (2.5-cm) margins. Our reviewers value readability.

Proposal Format

1. Overview
   1. Proposal Title
   2. Principal Investigator full name, contact information (postal address, email address, phone), affiliation (university, school, college and/or department)

2. Proposal Body

   1. Abstract
   2. Research goals, including a problem statement.
   3. Description of the work you'd like to do, as well as the expected outcomes and results.
   4. How this relates to prior work in the area (including your own, if relevant)
   5. References, where applicable.

3. Data policy

   1. Our goal is to support work where the output will be made available to the broader research community. To that end, we ask that you provide us with a few sentences sharing what you intend to do with the output of your project (e.g. open sourcing code, making data sets public, etc.). Please note that the awards are structured as unrestricted gifts, so there are no legal requirements once a project is selected for funding. This is simply a statement of your current intentions.
4. CV format for the principal investigators
   1. The maximum length of a Principal Investigator CV is two pages. Any submitted CV that is longer than 2 pages may be cut off at two pages before the proposal review process begins.
   2. We require a CV for at least the primary Principal Investigator on the proposal. We will accept CVs from each of the Principal Investigators listed on the proposal (up to two are allowed). Each CV must be limited to two pages.

Please do not include budget details in your proposal. We will be providing flat funding amounts based on the cost of student tuition on a regional basis.

We provide support up to $60,000 USD depending on the cost of student tuition on a regional basis.

Our website is consistently updated with new programs we offer. We encourage you to connect with our Google researchers at conferences to build more opportunities for applying to research grants.

The program is designed to support one year of work. If you are selected as a recipient of a Research Scholar award, we will partner you with a Google sponsor who can navigate the potential of an extension.

We will be providing limited email support via research-awards@google.com. Due to the volume of emails we receive, we may not be able to respond to questions where the answer is available on the website.

As a part of the group of engineers that review proposals for this program, we read a lot of proposals. We'd like to read more good proposals. Here's some advice on how you can improve the content of your short proposal and make reviewing it easier.

A good research grant proposal:

• Clearly specifies a problem. Good research is driven by a great problem or question, and a good proposal starts with a clearly specified one.
• Describes a specific, credible, relevant outcome. Try to identify a specific and appropriately sized outcome, to give us a clear notion of what the research award would be enabling. What will likely come to be that might otherwise not happen? While this outcome should be a decisive step towards achieving your vision, it generally won't be adequate to completely achieve it. It often helps to describe both the minimum that is likely to be accomplished and a potential best-case. Since picking the right datasets and test cases is often important, tell us which ones you plan to use.
• Crisply differentiates the proposed contribution from prior work. Please apply normal practices (citations, etc.) for documenting how your work will materially advance the state of the art. Make it clear how your work will be changing the state of the art, and not simply trying to match it.
• Tells us how the research challenge(s) will be addressed. Successful research projects combine a great problem with ideas for solutions, too. We recognize that all the answers won't be known yet, but we'd like to feel that the direction has been established, and a plausible path has been identified. (Try to avoid proposals of the form "We want to look at problem X".) It's hard to have a big impact without taking risks, but please identify what the difficulties are likely to be and how you plan to mitigate them. It may help to explain how you succeeded in addressing analogous problems in other projects.
• Puts the proposed work in context. Most projects we fund also have support from other sources. To help us understand the expected impact of Google support, please explain what funding you already have for this area of research and how the proposed work relates to your existing plans. Do you plan to build a capability for other research, provide a tool, reproduce a prior result, collaborate with others to try something out, follow up on a promising idea, or explore a new one? All are potentially of interest; we just want to know.
• Makes the case to a non-expert. While we try to have your proposal reviewed by a Google expert in your field, it will also be read by non-experts, so please make at least the motivation and outcomes broadly accessible.