Computer science scholarships for Oxford, Cambridge students

Students in Cambridge and Oxford from underrepresented communities will have an opportunity to win scholarships to continue their postgraduate education in computer science next year.

This new scholarship programme is possible through a collaboration between the university, and a British artificial intelligence company, DeepMind.

The artificial intelligence company has previously collaborated with Cambridge on a series of scholarships in the computer science field.

A total of one PhD and four MPhil scholarships will be awarded to Cambridge students from underrepresented communities, to attract talented postgraduates based in the UK and other parts of the world.

These scholarships will be awarded to qualifying students who identify as female and/or are of Black or are from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Director of the Cambridge Trust, Helen Pennant said DeepMind scholarships are designed to enable students who would not be able to do so without financial assistance.

She adds that these scholarships can help to bring highly talented students to Cambridge who would otherwise not have had the opportunity, thus changing their lives.

“We’re delighted that DeepMind has chosen to continue and expand this incredibly important scholarship programme,” Pennant said.

With this new offering, eligible students will receive scholarships to pursue postgraduate education in the study of Advanced Computer Science and Machine Learning and Machine Intelligence at Cambridge, taught in the Departments of Computer Science and Technology, and Engineering, respectively.

University Relations and Educational Partnerships Lead at DeepMind, Obum Ekeke said, “DeepMind is committed to increasing representation in artificial intelligence and machine learning.”

He added that DeepMind is proud to partner with Cambridge in offering these scholarships, as they provide the opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds to gain a graduate education and make valuable contributions to the AI community.

Head of the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the university, Professor Ann Copestake said that the scholarships from DeepMind have played a major role in attracting a more diverse cohort of talented students to our MPhil in Advanced Computer Science.

DeepMind is also offering graduate scholarships for students at the University of Oxford who are interested in pursuing a master’s degree in Computer Science from 2021 to 2022.

These scholarships are available to students identifying as female or of Black or minority ethnic origin, or from low-participation areas of the UK.

Additionally, DeepMind is also offering a DPhil scholarship for students undertaking either a DPhil in Engineering Science, a DPhil in Computer Science, or in the Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems EPSRC Centre of Doctoral Training (CDT).

Head of the Department of Computer Science at Oxford, Professor Michael Wooldridge said, “We seek to deliver the best possible education to the best students, irrespective of their origin or background,”

Wooldridge added that the support from DeepMind is a tremendous boost for the university in succeeding in this mission.