Google PhD Fellowship Program in Health Research

Google PhD Fellowship students are a select group recognized by Google researchers and their institutions as some of the most promising young academics in the world. The Fellowships are awarded to students who represent the future of research in the fields listed below. Note that region-specific research areas will be listed in application forms during the application window.

The Google PhD Fellowship Program welcomes applications for outstanding PhD students worldwide.

Overview
Google PhD Fellowships directly support graduate students as they pursue their PhD.
Nurturing and maintaining strong relations with the academic community is a top priority at Google. The Google PhD Fellowship Program was created to recognize outstanding graduate students doing exceptional and innovative research in areas relevant to computer science and related fields. Fellowships support promising PhD candidates of all backgrounds who seek to influence the future of technology. Our research teams impact technology used by people all over the world and we encourage people of a wide range of backgrounds to apply. We currently offer fellowships in Africa, Australia, Canada, East Asia, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the United States.

Research areas of focus
Health Research
Subtopics : Population health, Complex medical data, Consumer health
Google’s Health research aims to advance AI and technology that helps people live healthier lives. Achieving this goal will require collaborative research with public officials, clinicians, and consumers. In partnership with public officials, we are creating tools to understand population level health. With clinicians, we are developing novel algorithms to better understand and make use of complex medical data such as images, text, lab tests, and genomics. With consumers, we are developing technology that helps people find high quality health information and better understand their own health status. By focusing on inclusive, transformative research we aim to improve the lives of billions of people. For this area, we call for proposals specifically in the areas of:
• Generating and understanding large datasets of the world to derive useful insights for improving population health, especially in under resourced regions or communities
• Novel algorithm development for better understanding of complex medical data, with focus areas in novel methods, novel applications, or underserved settings
• Novel methods, including both software and hardware, that helps extract health insights cheaper, faster, or better

Review criteria
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 Canada and the United States, East Asia and Latin America, essay responses are evaluated in addition to application materials to determine an overall recommendation.

What does the Google PhD Fellowship include?
India
Early-stage PhD students
• Up to 4 year Fellowship
• USD 50K to cover stipend and other research related activities, travel expenses including overseas travel
Late-stage PhD students
• 1 year Fellowship
• USD 10K to recognize research contributions, cover stipend and other research related activities, travel expenses including overseas travel

Africa, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, East Asia, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the United States: Universities must be an accredited research institution that awards research degrees to PhD students in computer science (or an adjacent field). 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.

Eligibility requirements for students?
General Eligibility Requirements (All Regions) :
• 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. Government or non-profit organization funding is exempt.
• Past awardees from the PhD Fellowship program are not eligible to apply again.
Region-Specific Eligibility Requirements :
Universities should only nominate students that meet the following requirements
• Africa, India, Latin America, and Southeast Asia
o Incoming or early-stage PhD students can be nominated by their university; however, the Fellowship award is contingent on the awardee registering for a full-time PhD program in computer science (or an adjacent field) within the academic award year of the Fellowship award, or the award shall be forfeited.
o Grant of the Fellowship does not mean admission to a PhD program. The awardee must separately apply and be accepted to a PhD program in computer science (or an adjacent field) at an eligible institution.
o Grant of the Fellowship will be subject to the rules and guidelines applicable in the institution where the awardee registers for the PhD program.

All application materials should be submitted in English.
The required materials vary depending on your region.
Universities will need to submit the following materials in a single, flat (not portfolio) PDF file.
Required Materials for All Nominated Students :
• Student CV with links to website and publications (if available)
• Research/dissertation proposal (maximum 3 pages, excluding references)
Region-Specific Requirements for Nominated Students :
India & Southeast Asia
• Short (one-page) resume/CV of the student applicant's primary PhD program advisor
• Available transcripts (mark sheets) starting from the first year/semester of Bachelor's degree to date
• 2-3 letters of recommendation from those familiar with the applicant's work (at least one from the thesis advisor for current PhD students)

Last Date : April 30, 2026