A student from Romania, winner of a scholarship from Google

Andrei Petraru, student at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi (Romania), is one of the seven students that were awarded by Google through European Scholarship for Students with Disabilities

The winners of the first annual European Scholarship for Students with Disabilities recognizes outstanding scientific contributions from students with disabilities who are pursuing university degrees in the field of computer science at a university in the European Union, Switzerland or Israel. Scholarships will be granted for the 2010–2011 academic year, and recipients will be invited to attend an all-expenses-paid retreat at the Googleplex in Zurich in June 2010.

The awarded students are Conrad Hochberg – Technische Universität München (Germany), Dave Todd – University of Ulster (Northern Ireland), Fabio De Dominicis – University of Naples Federico II (Italy), Igor Gonopolskiy – BenGurionUniversity (Israel), Jordi Sanchez-Riera – INRIA Grenoble Rhône-Alpes (France) and Wanda Diaz-Merced – University of Glasgow (Scotland)

Access to knowledge is our passion. When it comes to higher education for promising scholars, we do not want anything to stand in the way. That is why we are pleased to announce the Google Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities. Google is committed to helping the innovators of the future make the most of their talents by providing scholarships and networking retreats for computer science students with disabilities. This scholarship aims to help dismantle barriers that keep students with disabilities from entering computing, encourage them to excel in their studies and become active role models and leaders in creating technology.

Multiple scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic performance and demonstrated passion for computer science. A group of Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD students will be chosen from the applicant pool. Applications will be reviewed by a committee of researchers and engineers. The scholarship recipients will each receive a € 7,000 (or equivalent) scholarship for the 2010/2011 academic year.

In June 2010, all scholarship recipients will be invited to visit Google’s Engineering Centre in Zurich for an all-expenses-paid networking retreat. It will include workshops with a series of speakers, panels, breakout sessions and social activities, and will provide an opportunity to meet and share experiences.