We are delighted to share that we’re introducing the Amazon Women in Innovation Bursary, a programme of Electronic Engineering, Robotics & Intelligent Systems, and Computer Science bursaries at universities around our UK Development Centres.
At Amazon, we’re constantly innovating on behalf of our customers and a lot of that innovation comes right out of the UK. We have three Development Centres in Cambridge, Edinburgh and London, working on research and development for some of our most exciting innovations including Prime Video, Prime Air drone technology and our cloud-based voice service, Alexa.
Britain’s a hotbed of innovation and plays a big role in our global innovation footprint, which is why by the end of this year we’ll have nearly 5,000 corporate and research and development roles across the UK, of which more than 1,000 people will support innovation work in our Development Centres and in Amazon Web Services. These are Silicon Valley jobs in the heart of Britain, ranging from software development engineers, data scientists and technical programme managers; through to user experience designers, machine learning scientists, flight operations managers, and cloud computing specialists.
As part of our broader commitment to supporting innovation in the UK, we also want to play a role in nurturing the next generation of high tech superstars and helping people from all walks of life build exciting careers in innovation.
The bursary was originally launched two years ago, for students at Edinburgh University. Now female students in financial need seeking to attend Churchill College in the University of Cambridge and King’s College London will also be supported with a bursary providing £3,500 to £7,500 annually to support their living costs while studying. The bursaries will start this autumn for the 2016/2017 academic year, and each recipient of the award will be chosen by their own university. In addition, students will be mentored by Amazon on careers advice, CV building, and interview training, as well as have the opportunity for a potential work placement at the local Development Centres.
Launching the new bursary, Doug Gurr, UK Country Manager for Amazon, said: “We want to foster the next generation of high-tech superstars in Britain and help people from all walks of life invent for the future,” said Doug Gurr, UK Country Manager, Amazon. “We hope that over time this new bursary will make a big difference to many young women who one day will become future leaders in innovation.”
Katie Worton, aged 19 from Roslin, a student who benefits from the bursary at Edinburgh University and is studying Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, said: “I’ve always dreamt of forging a career in a field that’s cutting edge and innovative and I value Amazon’s support. The bursary has given me the chance to grow thanks to real-life, hands-on experience during my placement at Amazon’s Development Centre in Edinburgh. It’s a fantastic programme, and I’d encourage any young woman who wants to explore a career in innovation to apply.”
