The public vote
The Google Science Fair's blog announced two things on the same day in May 2011: the fifteen finalists selected by the judges, and the winner of the People's Choice Award, decided by the public. Over 100,000 votes were cast. Subramanian took the People's Choice Award and a $10,000 scholarship, for a project the announcement links under the name cancer remover, elsewhere described as Cancer Busters.
The two awards were different things and should not be confused. The People's Choice ran across the wider pool of entries, not only the finalists, and the announcement does not list Subramanian among the fifteen going through to the final judging. Winning the public vote in the fair's first year meant persuading a hundred thousand strangers on the internet, which is a different competence from persuading a panel of scientists, and in 2011 it was a novel one.
The first Google Science Fair
The 2011 competition was the first of its kind: an online science fair with no national qualifying rounds, open to teenagers anywhere with an internet connection. The fifteen finalists were grouped by age band. In the thirteen-to-fourteen bracket: Anand Srinivasan, Daniel Arnold, Lauren Hodge, Luke Taylor of South Africa and Michelle Guo. In fifteen-to-sixteen: Dora Chen, Gavin Ovsak, Harine Ravichandran of India, Naomi Shah and Skanda Koppula. In seventeen-to-eighteen: Christopher Neilsen of Canada, Matthew Morris, Shaun Lim Hsien Yang of Singapore, Shree Bose and Vighnesh Leonardo Shiv.
Those finalists were to present at Google's headquarters in Mountain View on 11 July 2011. The age-banded structure was one of the fair's distinguishing features, and it meant a thirteen-year-old was not judged directly against an eighteen-year-old.
Why a cancer project wins a public vote
A public vote is not a peer review, and the projects that win one are rarely the most technically difficult. They are the ones whose purpose can be explained in a sentence and whose stakes are universally understood. Cancer is the archetype: almost every voter has a reason to care, and a teenager promising to attack it is a story before it is a result.
That is not a criticism of the entrant. The Google Science Fair was built around online entry and online engagement, and putting a prize in the hands of the audience was a deliberate design choice, intended to reward communication as well as laboratory skill. The $10,000 scholarship attached to it was real money by the standards of a school competition.
What the announcement leaves out
Google's post is short and gives very little about the winner. It does not state Subramanian's age, home town, school or country, does not describe the project's method or findings beyond the title, and does not indicate a gender, which is why this page uses the name rather than a pronoun.
Nor does any later source found for this page pick up the thread. Fifteen years on, the public record of the first Google Science Fair's People's Choice winner consists of a blog post, a prize and a project name. Nor is there an institutional alumni page for the fair's early winners to consult.
What is documented, and what is not
Firm: Subramanian won the People's Choice Award at the 2011 Google Science Fair; the prize was a $10,000 scholarship; more than 100,000 votes were cast; the project concerned cancer and is referred to under the names cancer remover and Cancer Busters; the announcement was made on 23 May 2011.
Not documented: age, school, home town, country of entry, the scientific content of the project, and anything published afterwards. The fifteen judged finalists are named in the same post, and Subramanian is not among them, which is consistent with the People's Choice being a separate award rather than a placing in the final.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lauren Hodge | United States | Winning the 13-14 age category of the first Google Science Fair, in 2011… | Age 14 |
| Sophie Healy-Thow | Ireland | Co-winning the Google Science Fair grand prize in 2014 | Age 16 |
| Nimal Subramanian | United States | People's Choice Award, first Google Science Fair, 2011 | — |
| Viney Kumar | Australia | Winner, 13-14 category, Google Science Fair 2013 | — |
| Calvin Rieder | Canada | 2015 Google Science Fair global finalist | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Won the People's Choice Award at the 2011 Google Science Fair
- The prize was a $10,000 scholarship
- More than 100,000 votes were cast
- Announced on the Google Science Fair blog on 23 May 2011
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- Age, school, home town and country of entry are not stated
- The project's method and findings are not described anywhere consulted
- The announcement does not state a gender, so this page uses the name rather than a pronoun
Questions people ask about Nimal Subramanian
What did Nimal Subramanian win?
The People's Choice Award at the first Google Science Fair in 2011, and a $10,000 scholarship, after more than 100,000 public votes.
Was the People's Choice the same as winning the fair?
No. The judges selected fifteen finalists who presented at Google in July 2011; the People's Choice was decided by public vote and announced separately.
What was the project?
A cancer project, linked in Google's announcement under the name cancer remover and elsewhere described as Cancer Busters. No method or result is described in the post.
How old is Nimal Subramanian?
The announcement gives no age, birth year, school or home town.
How many votes were cast?
More than 100,000, according to Google's own announcement of 23 May 2011.
Who were the 2011 finalists?
Fifteen students in three age bands, among them Shree Bose, Naomi Shah, Lauren Hodge, Luke Taylor of South Africa, Harine Ravichandran of India and Shaun Lim Hsien Yang of Singapore.
Where is Nimal Subramanian now?
Nothing published after May 2011 was found in the sources used for this page.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Nimal’s story?
Which award did Nimal Subramanian win in 2011?
How many votes were cast?
What was the scholarship worth?
Sources
- The votes are in for the Google Science Fair Finalists and People's Choice Award Winner — Google Science Fair blog, 2011-05-23
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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