Amazon launches ‘women in innovation’ bursaries

Online giant Amazon is introducing a new ‘women in innovation’ bursary to support young women working towards a career in innovation and technology.

The bursary was originally launched two years ago, for students at Edinburgh University, and now the scheme is looking for female students in financial need seeking to attend Churchill College in the University of Cambridge and King’s College London.

Starting this autumn for the 2016/2017 academic year, each recipient of the award will be chosen by their own university, and will be provided with a bursary of 3,500 to 7,500 pounds annually to support their living costs while studying. 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.

“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.”

Amazon has three development centres in Cambridge, Edinburgh and London, which work on research and development for Amazon’s innovations including Prime Video, Prime Air drone technology and our cloud-based voice service, Alexa. By the end of the year, Amazon will 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.