Submitted by Rachel Gardner on Mon, 05/01/2026 - 11:03
Students from backgrounds under-represented in AI are invited to apply for paid AI research placements here this summer. Applications are open until 16 February 2026.
The placements – here in the Department from 6 July to 28 August 2026 – are offered through the Google DeepMind Research Ready programme. This supports the development of a stronger and more diverse AI research community that can bring unique perspectives and solutions to the field.
The 2026 placements are open to current undergraduates or recent graduates and offer the opportunity to work with a researcher here on a project related to AI. Participants will also be mentored by a PhD student throughout their placement.
While here in Cambridge, participants can also hear talks by academics working on AI, attend workshops on research skills, and benefit from information, advice, and guidance sessions on topics such as postgraduate applications, wellbeing, and careers. No previous research experience is required to apply.
This is the third year we have run the programme and previous participants have really enjoyed the opportunities it offers them.
Ali, a Computer Science undergraduate at City St George's, University of London, did a research placement here last summer. He worked on PICO, a suite of frameworks that help researchers visualise how language models learn. "From the knowledge that I gained during the placement," he says, "I was able to build my own biotech AI start-up".
He is also interested in pursuing postgraduate study so as well as getting his start-up off the ground, he's currently applying for a Master's degree.
Alanud also did a placement here in the summer of 2025. She came to Europe from Eritrea as a refugee when she was a child, and as a result, "I faced a lot of language barriers and financial barriers", she says. Now a final-year Computer Science undergraduate at Birmingham City University, she is very interested in going on to do a PhD after she graduates and feels that doing the placement will really help her pursue this ambition.
Her project was based around the Abstraction and Reasoning Corpus and she researched how Large Language Models (LLMs) perform when they are presented with a problem that they have never seen before. Among her achievements during her placement, "I was lucky enough to co-author a paper with my supervisor", she says. She adds that "after this research programme, pursuing a master's and a PhD is a lot more reachable for me."
After this programme, pursuing a Master's and a PhD is a lot more reachable for me.
Alanud Salah
Simon is a mature student at the University of Staffordshire who went back into academia after 30 years in the hospitality industry. He carried out a project titled 'Digital Sovereignty or Digital Serfdom?'
He was delighted to be accepted onto the programme. "I'm a mature student from a working class background," he says. "I never thought that going to a university like Cambridge was ever going to happen." But it did and he enjoyed his area of research so much that he is carrying it on during his final year at University. "It's turbocharged my thought process," he says.
"I had an amazing experience, which has accelerated my career options in this field. I am still connected with my supervisor and, together with other academics, we are writing research papers on the ethics and geopolitics of AI. I am also seriously considering doing a Doctorate at Cambridge and continuing my academic journey in research. This wouldn't have been possible without attending this placement scheme."
Meet more of the 2025 participants in this video and hear what they have to say about taking part.
- The Google DeepMind Research Ready programme is most likely to benefit those who are interested in postgraduate study as it gives participants the chance to experience what life is like as a postgraduate researcher at the University of Cambridge. It also supports them in developing research skills, and gives them the opportunity to engage with inspiring research staff and students. The deadline to apply is 09:00 on Monday 16 February 2026.
- For full details of the placement programme, who is eligible, and how to apply, please see Google DeepMind Research Ready
- The 2026 placements are supported by Google DeepMind, the Hg Foundation and the Royal Academy of Engineering under the Google DeepMind Research Ready scheme. They have also been made possible by support from Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge. We are grateful to all of them for their support.
