Borg 2010 - The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship: Asia $3500 scholarship

Her capacity to mix technical expertise and a relentless vision inspired, motivated and moved women to embrace technology instead of avoiding or ignoring it.”
Dr. Anita Borg (1949?2003)
Anita Borg believed that technology affects all aspects of our economic, political, social and personal lives. A technology rebel with a cause, in her life she fought tirelessly to ensure that technology’s impact would be a positive one. It was this vision that inspired Anita in 1997 to found the Institute for Women and Technology. Today this organization continues on her legacy and bears her name, The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (www.anitaborg.org).

Dr. Anita Borg

Her capacity to mix technical expertise and a relentless vision inspired, motivated and moved women to embrace technology instead of avoiding or ignoring it. She has touched and changed the lives of countless women in the computing fields and beyond. She is responsible for including women in the technological revolution ? not as bystanders, but as active participants and leaders. In 1987, prior to founding the Institute, Anita began an email online community called Systers which today has 3,000 members from all over the world. In 1994, Anita co-founded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference. The Grace Hopper Celebration has grown to become the largest gathering of women in computing in the world. The Anita Borg Institute is the umbrella organization for both of these ongoing programs as well as the Virtual Development Center, TechLeaders and a host of other dynamic partnerships and collaborations that embrace Anita’s ongoing vision.

During her life, Anita’s commitment to her vision and expertise in the field gained her significant recognition. In 1999 President Clinton appointed her to the Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology. In 2002, she received the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy, and Employment.

Born Anita Borg Naffz on January 17th, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois, she grew up in Palatine, Illinois, Kaneohe, Hawaii, and Mukilteo, Washington. Anita found her way to a computer keyboard in her mid-20s. She received a Ph.D. in computer science from the Courant Institute at New York University in 1981. She then embarked on a brilliant research career for some of industry’s commercial giants including, Nixdorf, Digital/Compaq’s Western Research Lab and Xerox PARC.

The Scholarship

Dr. Anita Borg devoted her adult life to revolutionising the way we think about technology and dismantling barriers that keep women and minorities from entering computing and technology fields. Her combination of technical expertise and fearless vision continues to inspire and motivate countless women to become active participants and leaders in creating technology.

As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to furthering Anita’s vision, we are pleased to announce The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship: Asia. Through the scholarship, we aim to encourage women to excel in computing and technology, and become active role models and leaders.

Scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic background and demonstrated leadership. A group of female undergraduate and graduate student finalists will be chosen from the applicant pool. Each scholarship recipient will receive a $3500 scholarship. In addition all finalists and scholarship recipients will be invited to visit Google’s Engineering Center in Korea for a networking retreat. It will include workshops with a series of speakers, panels, breakout sessions and social activities, and will provide an opportunity for all finalists to meet and share their experiences.

Who can apply?

Applicants must satisfy all of the following criteria to be eligible:

Be a female student enrolled in full-time undergraduate or postgraduate study at an university
Be enrolled at an University in any of the following countries: Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam. Citizens, permanent residents, and international students are eligible to apply.
Be studying Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a closely related technical field.
Maintain an excellent academic record
How to apply

?Please complete the online application and submit all required documents online between April 1st to June 1st, 2010. First-time users will be required to register and create an account.

your contact information and education history
your resume ? with leadership, work, education, and technical accomplishments included
a copy of your transcripts
Bachelor’s: A copy of your current academic record
Master’s and PhD: A copy of your previous and current academic records
two letters of recommendation
answers to three short essay questions
Describe a significant technical project you have worked on. If you have worked on a major independent research project (such as research for a graduate program), please describe that work here. Give an overview of the problem and explain how you approached key technical challenges. If the project was team-based, be sure to specify your individual role and contributions.
Give one or two examples of how you have exhibited leadership. Explain how you were influential and what you were trying to achieve. These need not be demonstrated through formal or traditional leadership roles. You can use recent examples of leadership in your technical community, from your time at university (or within the last ~3 or so years), in an extracurricular activity or in the broader community.
Anita Borg proposed the "50/50 by 2020" initiative, so that women earning computing degrees would be 50% of the graduates by year 2020. However, the percentage of computer science degrees earned by women is still far from 50% throughout the world. What might you propose that could be implemented by a school, the government, an organization, or a private company to reverse the trend? Short of getting to 50/50 by 2020, how would you measure the success of your program?
?For specific questions not answered on this page or in the FAQ section, please e-mail anitaborgscholars-asia-AT-google.com. The subject field of your email must include “Anita Borg Question”.

About the Finalists’ Retreat

Scholarship finalists and scholars are invited to an expenses paid retreat held in Korea in early August. In addition to free time for sightseeing and socializing, the formal part of the retreat typically includes:

Welcome meal and tour of Google;
Informal ice breaker activities and introductions;
Introduction to the Anita Borg Institute and the scholarship program;
Personal insights, technical talks, and workshops.
?We look forward to receiving your application!