April 8, 2025

The UW Graduate School is now accepting departmental nominations for the 2025 PhD Google Fellowship.

The ECE department has established an internal nomination form, as we are limited to nominating two students.

 Form Link –  2025 ECE Google PhD Fellowship Nomination Form (internal)

 DEADLINES:
April 21, 12:00 pm (PT) – Student nominations due to ECE
April 25, 12:00 pm (PT) – ECE nominations due to the Graduate School (UW)
May 15, 11:59 pm (PT) – Graduate School (UW) nominations due to Google

 THE AWARD INCLUDES:

  • Up to 2 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

 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

  • Full-time graduate students pursuing a PhD.
  • Completed graduate coursework by the Fall of the award year.  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 who are already supported by a comparable industry award are not eligible. Government or non-profit organization funding is exempt.
  • Past awardees from the PhD fellowship program are not eligible to apply again.
  • Students cannot apply directly to the program; they must be nominated by an eligible university.
  • Universities may nominate up to four eligible students. We strongly encourage nominating students from a wide range of backgrounds.
CRITERIA REVIEWED:

  • 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 – AI at Google: our principles (blog.google)
  • Incomplete proposals will not be considered.

SUBMISSION MATERIALS (all materials in PDF format):

  • Cover sheet signed by the Department Chair confirming the student passes eligibility requirements (The department will provide this if you will be nominated)
  • Student CV with links to website and publications (if available)
  • Short (1-page) CV of the student’s primary advisor
  • 2-3 letters of recommendation from those familiar with the nominee’s work (at least one from the thesis advisor)
  • Research/dissertation proposal (maximum 3 pages, excluding references)
  • Student essay response #1 (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.”
  • Student essay response #2 (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?)
  • Transcripts of current and previous academic records

A NOTE FROM THE UW GRADUATE SCHOOL (who will choose the final nominations from all departments)

We are inviting you to participate in this process by nominating up to two students from your program to be considered for these spots. If you choose to submit nominations for our internal selection process, the students should be your absolute top students working in research relevant to Google’s research areas as noted on their PhD fellowship page and aligned with Google AI Principles. Please see the “how are applications evaluated” portion of the FAQs for more information on this and other factors. Your nominee(s) should be able to compete among the most outstanding students in their field, and not just in the US. This is particularly applicable to the more heavily-awarded Google research areas.  Please take all of this into account when considering who to nominate or even whether to nominate at all. In other words, do not send in nominations for students who are too early in their careers or who do not have the academic and professional achievements and background to be competitive at this level.  

If you have any questions, please contact Scott Dunham at dunham@uw.edu