Eight researchers from five South African universities have just earned Google PhD Fellowships, one of the world’s most competitive academic honours awarded to fewer than 300 PhD students globally!
South Africa (07 December 2025) – The Google PhD fellowship program, running for 16 years now, recognises exceptional postgraduate students whose work is shaping the future of technology. It supports candidates in research areas that range from health to machine learning and quantum computing.
“The Google PhD Fellowship Program was created to recognise outstanding graduate students doing exceptional and innovative research in areas relevant to computer science and related fields.” shares Google.
Students awarded with fellowships receive funding for up to three years, a dedicated Google Research Mentor, and access to a worldwide community of scientists. Google.org is putting more than $10 million into this year’s cohort, supporting 255 fellows across 35 countries.
Since the programme began, more than 950 students worldwide have received fellowships.
Last year, four students representing three South African universities across four different research areas were welcomed into the program.
This year, South Africa’s eight awardees span five of the twelve research domains!
“We strongly believe that supporting fundamental science leads to a generation of new knowledge, which fuels innovation and ultimately drives broad societal impact. We are excited to support the fellows’ work and see the profound impact they will have on the future of technology and the world.” shares Google.org.
South Africa’s 2025 Google PhD Fellows
Health Research
• Stellenbosch University, Haingo Andry
• University of the Witwatersrand, Jess Rees
Human–Computer Interaction
• University of Cape Town, Elizaveta Siurina
Machine Learning & ML Foundations
• University of Cape Town, Justine Kojo
• University of the Witwatersrand, Tristan Bester
Machine Perception
• University of Pretoria, Olugbenga Aderoba
Natural Language Processing
• University of Johannesburg, Fiyinfoluwa Gboluwaga Oyesanmi
• Stellenbosch University, Simon Malan
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