Google PhD Fellowship Program (Europe and Middle East)

Google PhD Fellowship (Europe and the Middle East)

You get a yearly lump sum for up to 2 years while you finish your PhD. You also get a personal mentor from Google Research who advises you on your work. The lump sum covers your stipend or salary, health insurance, tuition fees, conference travel and a personal computer. Google does not publish a fixed figure for this region; the amount is set locally and varies by country. For comparison, the same fellowship pays about EUR 78,000 (US $85,000) per year in Canada and the USA, so the European and Middle Eastern rate sits in that ballpark. The award is run by Google Research.

Who can apply

• Level: You are a full-time PhD student, enrolled full time for the whole funding period.
• Field of study: Your research is in computer science or a related area, for example machine learning, natural language processing, quantum computing, human-computer interaction, security or health research.
• University: You study at a recognised research institution in Europe or the Middle East that awards PhDs in these fields.
• University nomination: You cannot apply yourself. Your university must nominate you, and each university may put forward at most three students. So you first go through your department's or graduate school's internal selection.
• No double funding: You do not already hold a comparable fellowship from another company. Government or non-profit scholarships are fine.
• No Google ties: You are not a Google employee, spouse, child or household member.
• Nationality: Any nationality can apply, as long as your university in Europe or the Middle East nominates you.

How to apply

First contact your department or graduate school to enter their internal nomination process. Only an official university representative can submit the application. For the 2026 cycle, applications open on 5 March 2026 and close on 30 April 2026, with decisions by 31 August 2026. Selection looks at your research proposal, its potential impact, your academic record and your leadership potential.

How realistic are your chances?

The real bottleneck is the nomination cap: each university may forward only three candidates, so you compete inside your own institution before Google ever sees your file. Past fellows come mainly from top research universities such as ETH Zurich, Oxford, TU Munich and the Max Planck institutes, which points to a high bar. If your research clearly fits Google's areas and your department backs you as one of its three, your prospects are genuinely strong. Without that internal backing, you cannot enter at all.