US$1m Google partnership offers AI placements for disadvantaged UK undergrads

UK UNDERGRADUATE engineering students from disadvantaged backgrounds will be offered summer placements by Google and the Royal Academy of Engineering in a bid to widen participation in artificial intelligence (AI) research.

Universities that want to host a placement under the scheme have until 26 September to apply. The US$1m programme will create 120 placements for undergraduates from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes undergraduates studying AI-related courses who have lived in the most deprived areas of the country and been in local authority care. The placements will take place from June to September 2025.

The aim of the scheme is to build a more diverse AI research community in an effort to make the technology and systems it shapes accessible and equitable. Ten universities will be selected to host the placements. They aim to improve the undergraduates’ knowledge of AI and build their research expertise.

The programme is funded by the search engine’s AI unit Google DeepMind, sponsored by the education and employment charity The Hg Foundation, and administered by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Obum Ekeke OBE, head of education partnerships at Google DeepMind, said: “These placement opportunities will not only deepen [the undergraduate’s] understanding of AI's potential but also inspire them to progress to further studies and careers in AI so that they too can develop groundbreaking solutions that address real-world challenges.”

James Turner, CEO of The Hg Foundation, said: “I believe we can make a meaningful contribution not only to enabling a more diverse AI research community but also to shaping the UK’s role in responsible development of emerging technologies like AI to ensure that they are designed rigorously and sustainably, and adopted where they have the maximum benefit.”