Moreno and Solomon will each receive $25,000 toward their research in computer science or in a related field.

“I plan to pursue a postdoc in academia or industry. I would like to continue to focus on methodology and theory for healthcare applications,” said Moreno, a Ph.D. student in the School of Interactive Computing (IC).

Solomon, a recent human-centered computing graduate, said she plans to first work as a research scientist creating programs that promote equity and inclusivity in computer science classrooms. Eventually, she would like work on policy related to computer science education.

The number of students from underrepresented groups who completed a Ph.D. in computer science from 2018 to 2019 decreased by 13 percent. In an effort to increase the diversity of Ph.D. graduates in the industry, CMD-IT and Google Research created this fellowship. In 2020, the organizations awarded six fellowships to be used by recipients for the last year of their dissertation requirements.

Applicants must come from one of the 11 universities that are a part of the FLIP Alliance. The alliance aims to address the broadening participation challenge and increase the diversity of the future leadership in the professoriate in computing at research universities.