members of the Swiss JRC between Microsoft, ETH Zurich, and EPFL

Swiss Joint Research Center RFP

Region: Europe, Global

What it is

Funding for collaborative research between Microsoft and ETH Zurich and EPFL as part of the Swiss Joint Research Center

Contact us

Direct any questions not answered here to swissjrc@microsoft.com

Note, the submission deadline has now closed

  • Microsoft funding

    Microsoft will provide funding for up to ten projects. Funding is expected to cover PhD student salaries including overheads for two years and therefore form a part of a PhD position. One PhD student will be funded for each selected project. Travel support and equipment should, in the most part, be made available to the researchers by the applying organization. Besides, requests for travel support and equipment as well as Microsoft Azure Cloud resources will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

  • Eligibility

    To be eligible for this RFP, your institution and proposal must meet the following requirements:

    • Institution must be ETH Zurich or EPFL.
    • Proposals will be accepted from any ETH Zurich or EPFL department or institute.
    • The proposed research must be led and performed primarily by ETH Zurich or EPFL faculty but should include one or more names of active and committed collaborators from Microsoft.
    • The proposed research must align with this RFP’s research goals.
    • The proposed research can be cross-disciplinary and several researchers from the same institution can submit a single, joint proposal if that contributes to address the proposed research goals.
    • Proposals that are incomplete or submitted past the submission deadline will be excluded from the selection process.
    • Submitted proposals must adhere to the proposal requirements and follow the submissions process as described in the “Proposal requirements and submission” tab.

  • Selection process and criteria

    All proposals received by the submission deadline and in compliance with the eligibility criteria will be evaluated by the Swiss JRC Steering Committee and subject matter experts chosen by Microsoft. Drawing from evaluations by the Steering Committee and subject matter experts, the Steering Committee will decide which proposals will be selected.

    Note: Microsoft will not provide individual feedback on proposals that are not funded.

    All proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

    • Addresses an important research area aligned with specified research goals that if answered, has the potential to have a significant impact on that domain.
    • Strategic alignment with Microsoft, i.e. relevance to the Microsoft collaborator’s research.
    • Potential for wide dissemination and use of knowledge, including specific plans for scholarly publications, public presentations, and white papers.
    • Ability to complete the project based upon adequate available resources, reasonable timelines, and the identified contributors’ qualifications.
    • Qualifications of the research team, including previous history of work in the area, successful completion of previous projects, research or teaching awards, and scholarly publications.
    • Diversity is highly valued and research teams should strive to reflect a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and talent reflected in the research teams.
    • Evidence of university support contributed in-kind to directly support and supplement the research efforts.
    • Possible additional information as requested by the Steering Committee, which might be requested via a conference call.

  • Conditions

    • As a condition of accepting an award, principal investigators agree that Microsoft may use their name and likeness to publicize their proposal abstracts or summaries in connection with the promotion of the research awards in all media now known or later developed.
    • External Principal Investigators and funded PhD students are encouraged to acknowledge receipt of this award on their University home page.
    • Researchers will be willing to engage with Microsoft about their project and experience, and provide updates via regular calls or visits (e.g. quarterly).  Moreover, researchers will keep a project one slider up to date.
    • The review process is internal, and no review feedback will be given to submitters.
    • Microsoft encourages researchers to publish their work in scholarly venues such as journals and conferences. Researchers must provide Microsoft a copy of any work prior to publication. So long as accurate, such publications are not subject to Microsoft’s approval except that, at Microsoft’s request, researcher will delete any Microsoft Confidential Information identified or delay publication to enable Microsoft to file for appropriate intellectual property (IP) protection for any project IP disclosed in such work.
    • Funded researchers must seek approval of their institution’s review board for any work that involves human subjects.
    • At the completion of the project, the funded researchers will be required to submit to Microsoft a report describing project learnings.
    • Project teams attending, after mutual agreement of dates and times, Swiss Joint Research Center workshops or other events.