DeepMind offers postgraduate scholarships in science and tech

Students from minority groups based in the UK will have the opportunity to win scholarships from DeepMind to continue their postgraduate education in Artificial Intelligence (AI), computing, and biological life sciences.

The scholarship scheme will also award two PhD scholarships in AI-related fields.

The scholarships will be awarded to students enrolled in AI and other related fields at the Imperial College of London for the 2021-22 academic year.

These scholarships will be open to women and people from black and minority ethnic background that are typically under-represented in this area of study.

This announcement comes as Deep Mind, a leading British interdisciplinary artificial intelligence group reaffirms its philanthropic commitment to members of the underrepresented communities to pursue their postgraduate education in AI and other related fields.

According to a survey carried out by Imperial College of London’s Faculty of Engineering, 70% of PhD students could not have pursued their studies without financial support.

DeepMind aims to increase the number of postgraduate students who identify as female or who are from black or other ethnic minority backgrounds in tech fields.

The MSc awards are available for both international and students based in the UK. The scholarships will cover the full course costs as well as living costs.

The scholarship award will also provide additional support that will enable students to attend academic conferences, equipment, and relocation costs for international students.

The two PhD scholarships are available for students based in the UK. Applicants should apply by the March 2021 PhD admissions deadline, to conduct their doctoral research in artificial intelligence or machine learning.

In addition to financial support, scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to attend industry events organised by DeepMind.

Successful applicants will also receive a travel grant to attend an international research conference and will also be paired with a mentor from DeepMind.

Head of the Department of Computing at Imperial College, Professor Michael Huth, said, “We are delighted that DeepMind has extended their valuable support of the Department with these new scholarships.”

She added that the Department of Computing is committed to addressing the under-representation of women and BAME students in Computing and AI.

Global Lead of University Relations & Education Partnerships at DeepMind, Obum Ekeke said, “We’re delighted to have the chance to support students in both AI and biological sciences. These are our first scholarships in biology-related fields. We believe that AI has the potential to be a powerful tool for scientific discovery and working across different disciplines is a key part of that potential.”