Sylvia Christie, the education partnerships manager at DeepMind, has been instrumental in expanding the scholarship program which recently celebrated its five year anniversary.
Before coming to DeepMind, Sylvia worked for a mental healthcare startup and at a university. She wanted a job that combined the speed and excitement of a tech startup with the impact-focused goals and the brilliant researchers of academia. DeepMind was the perfect fit and during the interview process, she felt at home with the open discussion and welcoming culture.
She was drawn to the education team because she believes in ensuring that underrepresented communities can contribute to the development of AI. She finds the scholarships program to be the most rewarding, as it provides talented scholars with opportunities in AI and related fields.
Sylvia describes her typical day as a mix of focus time for projects, meetings, team catch-ups, and speaking to students and university partners. The education partnerships team is described as thoughtful, respectful, and fun, and they have grown significantly in the past year.
The biggest challenge the team faces is finding the right ways to make a positive impact in the wider community and for AI education. They celebrated the five-year anniversary with a Scholars Summit, virtual events, and launching an AI By You film series.
The biggest learning from the scholarship program being five years old is the importance of collaboration. The program wouldn’t be possible without university partners, contributions from people across DeepMind, and the hard work of the scholars themselves.
Sylvia’s advice to prospective scholars and those looking for roles at DeepMind is to keep checking the website for updates on the scholarship application process and to not count themselves out in pursuing a role at DeepMind.
If you’re interested in learning more about life at DeepMind, you can also read personal stories of other members of the team, like Richard Everett, a former intern turned intern manager, and Edgar Duéñez-Guzmán, a research engineer on the Multi-Agent Research team. Additionally, you can find events and news on DeepMind’s latest research at ICML 2022.