The new partnership enables Martingale Foundation’s expansion into Artificial Intelligence through the Google DeepMind AI Masters Scholarships
Martingale Foundation is proud to announce a new strategic partnership with Google DeepMind. The partnership enables talented students from low socioeconomic backgrounds to pursue Masters degrees in the rapidly growing field of artificial intelligence (AI).
Google DeepMind is the founding funder of the Google DeepMind AI Masters Scholarships, which are enabling Martingale’s expansion into AI. The Google DeepMind Scholars will receive a fully-funded Scholarship, including all tuition fees, research costs, and a tax-free living wage stipend.
Google DeepMind has funded AI Masters Scholarships since its inception in 2017. Google DeepMind’s scholarship funding has reached 26 universities across 13 countries, including in the UK. This new partnership will bring together the success of this scheme with Martingale’s tailored support and commitment to supporting access and progress in postgraduate study.
Alongside the Martingale Masters Development Programme, Google DeepMind Scholars will gain access to 1:1 mentorship with Google DeepMind’s researchers and engineers, and access to career development support within the growing field of AI.
Postgraduate study remains out of reach for many exceptional individuals due to their socioeconomic background. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, people from low socioeconomic backgrounds are eight times less likely to do a Masters and 15 times less likely to do a PhD than their more privileged peers.
In today’s world of technology, AI is not only growing in popularity but is one of the fastest-growing fields in STEM and the need for specialist training is increasing. Due to societal and financial barriers faced by those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, these specialist roles remain out of reach for many. This partnership will help ensure we do not lose these talented students from the pipeline, that they can follow their passion, and importantly, bring a diversity of thought to research and industry. This includes attracting and welcoming highly talented women and ethnic minorities who are from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, as these groups are particularly underrepresented in AI.
Cassandra Hugill, Chief Executive of Martingale shares ‘Google DeepMind has a long history of supporting marginalised groups to access careers in AI. We are delighted to launch this new partnership where we can collectively build greater impact on our shared mission to enable and nurture talented individuals to access and thrive within postgraduate study’.
The Education Partnerships team at Google DeepMind has a shared vision to remove barriers to further education and bring diverse perspectives together to create a fairer society. Obum Ekeke OBE, Head of Education Partnerships at Google DeepMind, commented, ‘We are delighted to have the chance to support another cohort of Masters scholars in the UK in 2025. Helping the next generation of AI talent to access opportunities is a key goal for us, which we support not only through funding but through mentoring, skills-building and connection to our Google DeepMind community. For AI to truly benefit humanity, it needs to be built and deployed by those from all backgrounds – and removing barriers to access through scholarships helps us reach this goal.’
This partnership marks a significant step towards ensuring exceptional individuals are not prevented from reaching their full potential in this fast-moving field. As Martingale’s first step into AI, the aim is to expand this offer further into PhD Scholarships in the future through additional partnerships.
As part of the Google DeepMind Partnership, Martingale is delighted to welcome two new university partners into the fold, University of Birmingham and Queen Mary University of London. They will be joining four of our current university partners; University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford, and University College London, to host the Google DeepMind AI Masters Scholars.
Angharad Milenkovic, Vice-President (Advancement) at UCL, said, ‘UCL is lucky to have welcomed many exceptional postgraduate students thanks to the deep commitment from Martingale Foundation and Google DeepMind to a diverse AI and STEM talent pipeline. Their support for postgraduate students changes individuals’ lives, enriches UCL’s academic environment and contributes to the future health of the AI and STEM sectors. I am delighted that these two visionary organisations will be combining their efforts, experience and impact in this area, and look forward to continuing our rich and close relationship.’
Martingale was launched in 2022 with a founding donation from XTX Markets. The charity is expanding rapidly and currently supports over 50 Scholars in the mathematical sciences, pursuing Masters and PhDs. Through comprehensive support that goes beyond financial aid, we enable exceptional students facing barriers to pursue postgraduate degrees and excel when they get there.
Interested in applying? Check out the AI courses offered through the Google DeepMind AI Masters Scholarships for 2025, alongside the full offering of Masters and PhD courses here. Applications close 27 October 2024.