Google PhD Fellowship Program 2021 Announced, But Is It Available for Indian Students?

Google PhD Fellowship Program 2021 has been announced for students across the world who are pursuing their PhD. Google, through this initiative, aims at supporting students through monetary support that will be provided for a period of four years, as well as by connecting them with a Google mentor to help them with their students. However, will the Google PhD Fellowship Program 2021 be extended to Indian students? The answer is yes.

Indian students should be able to apply for the fellowship soon as the official website says that online applications for the country begin in March 2021. All the submitted applications will be evaluated on the basis of the strength of the research proposal, research impact, student academic achievements, and leadership potential, says the official website. The application and all documents will have to be submitted in English.

Eligibility Criteria for Indian Students to Apply for Google PhD Fellowship Program 2021

Indian students will have to obtain the following qualifications in order to be able to apply for the fellowship from Google:

• Full-time graduate students pursuing a PhD and enrolled in an Indian institution may apply.
• Undergraduate or Master’s students and professionals may also apply.
• Undergraduate and Master’s student applicants must be currently enrolled as full-time students at an Indian university, and professionals must be employed or affiliated with an organization registered in India.
• Students must remain enrolled full-time in the PhD program for the duration of the Fellowship or forfeit the award.

Applicants need to note that applications from Google employees, their spouses, children, and members of their household as well as students that are already supported by a comparable industry award will not be accepted.

Subjects Being Supported Under Google PhD Fellowship Program 2021

Students pursuing their PhDs in the following streams alone may apply for the fellowship:

• Algorithms, Optimizations and Markets
• Computational Neuroscience
• Health Research
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Machine Learning
• Machine Perception, Speech Technology and Computer Vision
• Mobile Computing
• Natural Language Processing (including Information Retrieval and Extraction)
• Privacy and Security
• Programming Languages and Software Engineering
• Quantum Computing
• Structured Data and Database Management
• Systems and Networking

What Indian Students Will Receive If Selected for Google PhD Fellowship Program 2021

Indian students will be eligible for the following benefits if selected for the program by Google:

• Up to 4-year fellowship.
• A sum of approximately 36 lakhs to cover stipend and other research-related activities, travel expenses including overseas travel.
• Google Research Mentor.

Those who wish to know more about the initiative are advised to visit the official website for more information.