The A. Richard Newton Breakthrough Research Award
Request for Proposals 2007

Background

Computing has become indispensable for addressing many difficult and previously unsolvable problems facing the sciences and human society today. Finding answers to certain important questions requires expertise from multiple disciplines enabled by powerful computational advantages. Genomics, neuroscience, and astronomy have all become computational sciences, creating significant breakthroughs in the understanding of hereditary disease transmission, the workings of the human brain, and the birth of the universe.

Microsoft is keenly interested in identifying promising new avenues of research for solving today’s most important problems, especially those at the unique intersection of computing and multidisciplinary research.

Specifically, novel projects are sought employing innovative computational approaches, and which may also include special knowledge and techniques from other disciplines to produce results of potentially great impact to the research community and society.

Goals & Objectives

Microsoft invites proposals for breakthrough research projects. Breakthrough, in this sense, refers to projects which clearly leverage innovative computational techniques and advantages at the heart of the research, and which may integrate approaches from multiple disciplines. Additionally, projects considered breakthrough demonstrate potentially high impact by solving problems of great importance or by inventing promising new approaches for enabling their solution.

Successful breakthrough research applications will demonstrate:

• Problem solutions with potentially profound impact for the sciences and human society.
• Innovative computational approaches providing unique advantages for the problem solution.
• Highly creative problem solving strategies, which may also integrate knowledge and expertise from several domains to solve otherwise intractable problems.
• The PI’s successful history of leveraging diverse, specialized expertise, novel approaches, and collaboration with other researchers.

Awards

The total amount available under this request for proposals (RFP) is US $1,000,000. Microsoft Research anticipates making approximately ten to twelve awards, with a maximum of $100,000 for any single award. All awards will be made in $US. Microsoft Research will take into account the reasonableness of the amount requested in any proposal in light of stated deliverables, local costs, etc., and reserves the right to fund proposals at an amount lower than requested if appropriate.

Awards are made as unrestricted gifts to the institution. Outside the United States other local restrictions may apply to the terms of the award. For current policy regarding non-U.S. countries, please refer to http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/fundingopps/faq.aspx.

For all awards, payment of indirect costs (“overhead”) is not permitted.

Awards are made for the purpose of seed-funding larger initiatives, proofs of concept, or demonstrations of feasibility. It is important to understand that funding will continue after the first year only in exceptional circumstances, and that the principal investigators should therefore make every effort to leverage Microsoft Research funds as one component of a diverse funding base in a larger or longer-running project.

Specific Considerations for Breakthrough Proposals
To be accepted for this RFP, proposals must display the following distinctive characteristics:

1. The work provides strong benefits for the sciences, industry, and/or human society.
   • Research solving an important or previously intractable problem, or which increases the efficiency in solving a problem by at least an order of magnitude, will be viewed favorably.
   • Projects producing positive consequences for two or more disciplines will also be afforded positive consideration.
   • The work should have the potential for a profound impact on computing. Favorable consideration will be given to projects that have the potential to provide highly valuable results influential in the computing disciplines.
2. The research is computational at its core.
   • Computing is at the heart of the research, in the sense that it demonstrates unique advantages through its computational approach that will enable dramatic advances in a discipline or technology.
3. Projects can be either multidisciplinary or primarily computational in focus.
   • Multidisciplinary proposals combining computational approaches together with those from other disciplines are welcome in the context of this request for proposals. Since much of the complex research needed today requires knowledge and techniques from several domains, it is likely that proposals may involve practitioners from a number of different fields, as well as from the computational disciplines.
   • Because advances in computing itself are essential for accelerating discovery in a number of disciplines, proposals focused on highly innovative approaches to produce breakthroughs in core computing research are also encouraged.
4. The proposal is unique.
   • Extremely innovative perspectives, approaches or new combinations of disciplines particularly useful for progress and important to the research community will receive preferential treatment. For example, the integration of biology and computing was the enabler for breakthrough investigations in bioinformatics.
   • The proposed work must differ significantly in approach from other work in this domain.
   • The proposal should not be eligible for submission to any other currently open Microsoft funding program. A hypothetical example follows:
     1. ER&P is already engaged in research collaborations in Biomedical Computing. If an RFP sponsored by External Research & Programs is currently open in Biomedical Computing, researchers wishing to propose projects focused in this area would find a more appropriate avenue for collaboration by examining http://research.microsoft.com/erp/escience or by reviewing other RFPs and related funding opportunities from External Research at http://research.microsoft.com/erp.
5. Non-qualifying breakthrough research.
   • There are types of research which lie outside the scope of this request for proposals; for instance, proposals that may be multidisciplinary but do not employ computing at their core. A project that proposes to cure a serious disease with a unique combination of gene therapy and ancient aboriginal botanicals would not be considered. Although these types of projects may provide breakthrough impact for society though original, multidisciplinary work, but these are not the focus of this RFP, since innovative computational advantages do not play a central role in the research.

Eligibility

Conditions of eligibility listed below will be strictly adhered to, so please read them carefully. Proposals not meeting all these criteria will not be considered.

1. The proposing institution must be either:
   • An accredited degree-granting college or university (or international equivalent) with non-profit status and awarding degrees at the baccalaureate level or above.
   • A research institution with non-profit status.
2. All qualifying institutions are eligible without regard for geographic location.
3. An institution will be awarded a maximum of one gift per RFP, regardless of the number of proposals submitted from the institution. However, collaborative proposals embracing multiple groups across the organization are encouraged.
4. Proposals that are incomplete, inaccurate, request funds in excess of the maximum award available, or are otherwise not responsive to the terms and conditions of this RFP will, at the sole discretion of Microsoft Research, be excluded from consideration.
5. Proposals from or on behalf of persons participating in the evaluation process for this RFP will not be considered.
6. Proposals should evidence a commitment to make all results arising from a funded project (including all intellectual property in those results) broadly available by either: (i) dedicating such results to the public domain; or (ii) making the results available under a non-restrictive license that allows modification and redistribution without any significant restrictions or conditions, including so-called “reach through” provisions that require publication of source code. An example of an acceptable license is the BSD license available at http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.html, whereas the widely-used GPL and LGPL licenses are not acceptable. Further details of the Microsoft position on open source are available at http://www.microsoft.com/resources/sharedsource/Articles/MicrosoftandOpenSource.mspx.
7. Proposals should evidence willingness to contribute any resulting curriculum material to the MSDN Academic Alliance Repository at http://www.msdnaacr.net/curriculum/facetmain.aspx.
8. The receiving institution must agree that awards made as unrestricted gifts, will not be subject to indirect costs or overhead charges and these may not be included in the budget for the proposed project.
9. While the use of Microsoft technologies is not a condition of this RFP, any proposal relying exclusively on non-Microsoft technologies should provide a justification for why this must be the case. Please note that ordinary use of Microsoft Office applications will not be compelling in itself, although innovative uses of Office applications (or the use of applications such as SQLServer, Visual Studio, C#, .NET and Windows Presentation Foundation) are acceptable and encouraged. We are not able to provide support for the development of exclusively Java or LINUX-based applications. Use of non-Microsoft applications on Windows, cross-platform development, and interoperability with other operating systems and applications are all encouraged.

Submission Process

Proposals will be accepted in electronic form only at http://microsoft.redwhale.com. Proposals submitted to Microsoft Research will not be returned. Microsoft Research cannot assume responsibility for the confidentiality of information in submitted proposals. Therefore, proposals should not contain information that is confidential, restricted or sensitive. Microsoft Research reserves the right to make public proposals that receive awards, except those portions containing budgetary or personally identifiable information.

The submission process includes two parts.

1. Brief summary and contact information. Applicants must provide full contact information for principal investigators, amount requested and a brief abstract. This information will be submitted through a web form as part of the submission process.
2. Complete proposal containing full detail on the proposed project. 7 pages maximum, 10pt. font or larger, double-spaced, in either Microsoft Word or PDF format.

Proposals should address each of the items listed below under separate numbered headings.

1. Problem Statement: What is the problem or curriculum area addressed by the proposal and why is it important? What is the potential contribution to the field of the project if successful? Cite relevant work in the field as appropriate.
2. Expected outcomes: What tangible assets, if any, will be created or produced as a result of the proposed project? How will the results of this project be disseminated to others?
3. Schedule: When is the project to be completed? What milestones will be used to measure progress of the project and when will they be completed? (If the project described is part of a larger ongoing research program, estimate the time for completion of this project only).
4. Use of Funds: Provide a budget ($US) describing how the award will be used, including purchases of hardware or software, salaries, and other costs. Microsoft software or licenses requested should be listed in the budget, but the cost should be given as zero dollars. The budget does not have to be detailed, and should be presented as a table with the total budget request clearly indicated. Please note that, because awards are made as unrestricted gifts, Microsoft policy prohibits the payment of indirect cost (“overhead”).
5. Use of Microsoft Technologies: Describe the Microsoft tools and technologies (if any) to be used in this project. If software is to be developed, give details of the tools to be used, the number of software developers and the proposed timescale. Does the software to be developed require the incorporation of code from commercial or public-domain libraries? If so, please give details.
6. Related Research: Give a brief summary of the current state of the art in this field, including references where appropriate.
7. Dissemination and Evaluation: How will the results of this project be evaluated (if appropriate), and how will they be disseminated to others? Under what general license terms will the results be made available?
8. Letters of Reference. Principal Investigators focusing on a single discipline must include a letter of reference regarding the PI on the proposed project from the department chair within the institution or a leading researcher in the area of investigation. Multidisciplinary projects must include two such letters of reference, from two different department chairs within the university or leading researchers in the areas under investigation.
9. Other Support: Including other contributions to this project (cash, goods or services), if any, but not including such things as use of university facilities otherwise provided on an ongoing basis. Please note: authors of winning proposals will be required to submit an original letter on department letterhead certifying the commitment of any additional or matching support described in the proposal.
10. Qualifications of Principal Investigator: Include a brief description of any relevant prior research, teaching, publication or other professional experience. A detailed vita or list of publications is not required.

Please do not submit any confidential materials to Microsoft.

Selection Process and Criteria

All proposals received will be reviewed by Microsoft Research and eligible proposals will be evaluated by a panel of subject-matter experts chosen by Microsoft Research. Based on evaluations by the review panel, Microsoft Research will select the most worthy proposals for funding. Microsoft Research reserves the right to fund winning proposals at an amount greater or less than the amount requested, up to the stated maximum amount for individual awards. Due to the volume of submissions, Microsoft Research cannot provide individual feedback on proposals that are not funded.

Authors (including co-investigators) of winning proposals will be required to grant Microsoft permission for the use of their name, image, institutional affiliation and related professional information in press releases or other forums for publication of their award.

All proposals will be evaluated based upon the following criteria:

1. Well-defined goals and objectives that, if achieved, have the potential to have a significant impact on [a specified research domain, computer science, computer science curriculum, the computing industry, etc.]
2. Potential for wide dissemination and use of intellectual property created, including specific plans for publications, conference presentations, distance learning, etc., as well as plans to distribute content in multiple formats or languages.
3. Ability to complete the project, including the adequacy of resources available, reasonableness of timelines, and number and qualifications of identified contributors.
4. Qualifications of principal investigator, including previous history of work in the area, successful completion of previous funded projects, teaching awards, books published, etc.
5. Use of Microsoft tools and technologies: proposals should clearly indicate the Microsoft tools and technologies to be used in the project, or if no such technologies can be used, a clear statement should be made why this is the case.
6. Leveraging of other resources: preferential consideration will be given to proposals utilizing additional sources of funding to build larger or longer-running projects and/or leveraging other projects or resources in the field.

Schedule and Deadlines

Please be advised that we are obligated to strictly adhere to the deadline date and time. The application system will not accept submissions after the deadline has expired. Exceptions to this policy cannot be granted. It is advisable to upload your submission well in advance of the deadline.

Please address any questions to “erpinq[at]microsoft[dot]com”. Please put “A. Richard Newton Breakthrough Research RFP”in the subject line of your e-mail message to ensure a prompt and proper response.

Microsoft Word version of this document