This week, we welcomed our biggest and most geographically diverse cohort of DeepMind scholars yet. We’re excited to reflect on the journey so far, share more on the next chapter of the DeepMind scholarships – and welcome many more universities from around the world into the programme.

The scholarships journey so far

AI could be one of the most useful and transformative technologies in history - and the mission to build safe and beneficial AI spans a broad community. We established our scholarship programme in 2017 in an effort to help build a stronger and more inclusive AI community, who can bring a wider range of experiences to the fields of AI and computer science. The scholarships provide financial support to students from underrepresented groups seeking to study graduate courses relating to AI and adjacent fields. But of course, financial barriers are not the only obstacles that students can face, so in addition, every scholar is matched with a personal DeepMind mentor, who can support their aspirations and help them to navigate academic life.

We started with eight fantastic scholars who were studying masters courses in the UK and US. The scholarships were awarded to academically excellent students who belong to groups currently underrepresented in AI. This week, we welcomed more than 50 scholars to our 2020 cohort alone.

Expanding the reach of our scholarships

Increasing representation in AI offers a huge opportunity to bring diverse values, hopes and concerns into conversations about the design and deployment of AI – and this is critical if AI is going to be a technology that benefits everyone. Take alumnus scholar Shaquille, who wanted to use machine learning to better understand sickle cell anaemia, a disease which disproportionately affects Black people.