Stack Infrastructure has launched a scholarship program for female students at universities in the UK.

The scholarship is available to female students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds planning to study a STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) subject.

The IPI-owned company said it will fund the entire academic studies of selected students, including tuition fees and living expenses, beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year.

Scholars will also be given access to mentorship, internship opportunities, and attendance at data center industry events.

The program is in partnership with edtech platform Blackbullion and will help to develop the next generation of diverse industry leaders who otherwise may not have been able to fund a university education, said Stack.

“The Stack scholarship program is a groundbreaking initiative which we are proud to add to our growing list of meaningful and impactful education programs across EMEA,” said John Eland, CEO at Stack EMEA.

He added: “Data centers are the backbone of digital innovation and we believe the sector offers vibrant and dynamic career opportunities for ambitious individuals from an array of backgrounds. The Stack scholarship program reinforces our unwavering commitment to social mobility, diversity, and driving representation within the data center industry.”

Stack currently offers education programs for high school and university students in Milan, and has partnered with the go tec! student STEM laboratory in Zurich to provide laboratory space for young people to learn about STEM subjects. In 2022, the company also sponsored the Tech4Women challenge in the EMEA region to attract female talent in the data center space.

Stack currently operates a data center campus in Milan, Italy, but doesn’t have any facilities in the UK.

Real estate services company JLL created a training scheme for the next generation of data center operators earlier this year.

Stack’s data center portfolio includes 4GW built or under development and an additional 2.5GW of planned and potential expansion. The company has sites across 24 markets, including Stockholm, Sweden; Zurich, Switzerland; Osaka, Japan; Canberra, Australia; and Seoul, South Korea.