Google RISE Awards

Google RISE Overview

Google is committed to the belief that today's youth will invent the greatest technologies of the future. We feel that every student should have the opportunity to shine, and that success is made possible through a solid educational foundation. With that in mind, we'd like to introduce Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards, designed to fund, promote and support science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and computer science education.

• Google RISE Awards supports programs that advance STEM and computer science education in the United States of America
• Non-profit organizations, and university computer science faculty, staff, and student organizations are encouraged to apply
• Special consideration will be given to programs that impact students from communities with longstanding underrepresentation in computing and technology (Women, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, People with Disabilities) and economically disadvantaged students
• Programs that range from formative ideas that explore learning concepts to fully tested models that are ready to be adopted and disseminated will be accepted
• Support may include a combination of monetary awards, volunteer resources, and in-kind donations
• Award amounts will range from $500 - $15,000 in financial and in-kind support
• The application process for 2009 funding is now closed. The next application period will begin in Fall 2009 and the application deadline will be December 1, 2009.

Google RISE Award recipients

We are thrilled to announce the 2009 inaugural Google RISE Award recipients.  While we received over a hundred strong applications from around the US, we narrowed it down to 30 award recipients. Some of the recipients were chosen for their innovative programs and others for their hands on approach to teaching computer science. 

All of the programs we will sponsor are doing incredible work to increase access and interest in Science and Engineering among historically underrepresented groups in those fields.  We expect all award recipients to achieve great success and look forward to sharing their organizations' results with the community. 

We encourage you to check back in the Fall to get updates from the RISE community and to learn more about the upcoming 2010 Global RISE Awards. 

Learn more about some of our featured RISE award winners:

Brown University, Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a curriculum for middle-school students that teaches them programming through images and animations.  It uses algebra as the vehicle for creating this imaginative content, resulting in much greater student engagement in subsequent math classes.  Bootstrap attendees have been predominantly minority and economically disadvantaged, with about a quarter female.

New York University, New York City Girls Computer Science and Engineering Colloquium
NYU's Women in Computing (WinC) and Princeton University Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (GWISE) will be inviting young high school women in 9th and 10th grades to the annual New York City Girls Computer Science and Engineering Colloquium at NYU. The program will give young women a taste of the tremendous creativity and innovation involved in computer science and engineering and show young women how these fields can help change the world.  The event will include talks by women computer science and engineering professors, a workshop lead by female scientists from Google, talks and demos of exciting on-going research projects in computer science and engineering at Princeton and NYU, and an engineering design competition where girls will be challenged to construct structurally-sound towers using only spaghetti sticks and gumdrops. We will also discuss the prerequisites required for obtaining an education in computer science and engineering, as well as the undergraduate computer science and engineering experience. The goal of the program is to show young women that an education in computer science and engineering is both an attainable and rewarding goal.For more information about this event, please visit this website: http://cims.nyu.edu/~wincweb/HS/

The Revolving Museum, Inc., Artbotics Summer Camp
The Revolving Museum will expand its Artbotics program to include a summer camp for middle school students.  The middle school years are a critical time to interest students in science and technology; in particular, it is during these years that girls decide not to pursue science and mathematics. We will hold two one-week camp sessions for fifteen students each.  We will adapt our curriculum from our successful after school program for the week long sessions during June 2009, then will offer the camp sessions in July 2009.  The goals of the Artbotics program are to increase the number of women and minorities in computing through the use of innovative and interactive technologies, broaden student understanding of the field of computing, introduce computing to the public through exhibitions of the art projects, and build community with mentoring opportunities for students.  The program, started with funding from the National Science Foundation that will end in February 2009, has been designed to allow students to explore the intersection between Art and Computer Science, especially Robotics, by learning founding principles in both the fields of Art and Computer Science, and put them into practice by creating interactive, tangible exhibits that are displayed in public settings.

All 2009 Google RISE Award Recipients:
Arizona State University, Women in Computer Science, High School Outreach Program
Brown University, Artemis Program
Brown University, Bootstrap
California State University, Fullerton, MESA Robotics Academies
Carnegie Mellon, Women@School of Computer Science, Creative Technology Nights
Chabot Space & Science Center, Club Techbridge
Citizen Schools, Inc., STEM Apprenticeships
Colorado MESA Colorado/Minority Engineering Association, Energy Technology Program
Education Training Research Associates, Tech Teach
The Expanding Your Horizons Network, Upward Bound EYH Partnership
Girls Incorporated of Alameda County, Build IT: Inspiring Middle School Girls in Information Technology
Girls Incorporated of Holyoke, Technology and Girls, Understanding Relevant Information Technology
Girls Incorporated of Orange County, Smart Girls
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Program    
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, National Society of Black Engineers, Pre-College Initiative
New Mexico Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge
New York University, New York City Girls Computer Science and Engineering Colloquium
Puget Sound Center Foundation for Teaching, Learning and Technology, TechREACH
The Revolving Museum, Inc., Artbotics Summer Camp
Spelman College, Computer Science Olympiad
Society of Women Engineers, Santa Clara Valley Section, WOW! That's Enginering
Technology Access Foundation, TAF Academy
University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Excellence in Engineering & Diversity Programs
University of California, Irvine, American Indian Summer Institute in Computer Science
University of Michigan, National Society of Black Engineers, Adams Elementary Engineering Program
University of Michigan, National Society of Black Engineers, Computer Science Special Interest Group
University of Michigan, Women in Science and Engineering Program, RobotC for Girls
University of Texas at Austin, First Bytes
Virginia Tech, Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity, CEED Imagination '08
Virginia Tech, Association for Women in Computing, Women In Computing Day