Concordia PhD candidate receives 2025 Google PhD Fellowship

Rachna Raj, a PhD candidate in software engineering at Concordia’s Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, has been awarded a 2025 Google North America PhD Fellowship in Software Engineering and Programming Languages, supported by Google.org.

The fellowship recognizes exceptional graduate students around the world who are conducting innovative research in computer science and related fields. In addition to financial support, recipients are paired with a Google Research Mentor who offers academic guidance and potential opportunities for collaboration.

Supervised by Diego Elias Costa, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Raj is developing tools and analytics to improve the reliability and sustainability of open source software. Her research helps project maintainers understand how their software is used, detect issues early in development and strengthen collaboration with users.

By addressing these challenges, Raj’s work contributes to the long-term health of open source ecosystems, ensuring the software that powers education, innovation and everyday technology remains dependable.

Learn more about Concordia’s Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering