There is no application form, only a nomination
The detail that matters most here isn’t the money, it’s the mechanism: there is no application form a student ever fills in. Google’s own page is explicit that “direct applications from students are not accepted.” Your university nominates you during a fixed window each year, and universities cap how many candidates they put forward, which means the real deadline that affects you is whatever internal date your own department sets to pick its nominees, not Google’s published window. If this is something you want, the conversation to have is with your supervisor now, not when the window opens.
Nine regions, and the award varies sharply between them
The money itself is regionally uneven in a way worth knowing before you get your hopes up, and covers more regions than Google’s own overview page makes obvious at a glance, with the full nine-region breakdown sitting only in its FAQ. Canada and the US get the richest package, up to $85,000 a year for two years, explicitly covering tuition, living costs, travel and equipment, a rate that took effect from 2025 for new recipients. Europe and the Middle East pay a yearly bursary that varies by country but is also described as covering tuition, healthcare and social benefits alongside stipend and travel. Everywhere else is published as a flatter, less itemised sum: Africa and Latin America both work out to $15,000, Africa as a flat total over three years and Latin America as $15,000 a year for two years; Australia and New Zealand pay AU$20,000 for a single year; East Asia pays a flat $10,000 for one year; Southeast Asia pays $10,000 a year for up to three years; and India splits into an early-stage track worth $50,000 over four years and a narrower late-stage track worth $10,000 for a single year. None of those flatter regional figures come with a spending breakdown, so budget conservatively rather than assuming they stretch as far as the Canada/US or Europe/Middle East packages do.
Essay weighting differs by region too
Google’s review criteria note one more regional split worth knowing if you’re being nominated: in Canada and the United States, East Asia, and Latin America specifically, your essay responses are weighted into the overall recommendation alongside the rest of your application materials, a step the FAQ doesn’t describe as applying everywhere else.
The 2026 cycle is closed, 2027 dates aren’t out yet
The 2026 cycle is fully closed, decisions already made by the time this was checked. No 2027 dates are published yet, so if you’re aiming for the next round, watch for Google’s own announcement rather than assuming the same March-to-April window will repeat exactly.