Announcing the UW Azure Generative AI for Science Hub
The University of Washington eScience Institute is excited to partner with Microsoft on the new UW Azure GenAI for Science Hub. Through this Hub we will offer cloud computing credits to UW researchers (faculty, postdocs, research staff) for projects where utilization of generative AI is central to accomplishing the research goals. Azure grants will enable access to AI Studio, Azure OpenAI Services and GPUs as well as other standard Azure services.
Research Proposals: Proposals will be accepted from any disciplinary field for research projects where generative AI is central to the work that fit one of the following categories:
- The research project is new and can take advantage of the Azure cloud computing resource. The project needs to have other necessary resources in place so that it can start as soon as the computing credits are awarded.
- The project is ongoing and the research team may or may not already be using Azure or other computing resources.
The award decisions (see more details below) will be based on scientific merit, generative AI application, and suitability for cloud computing. Unfortunately, we will not be able to support HIPAA-compliant projects.
Interested in using Azure credits for your GenAI research?
Award Information
Awards must be used by June 30, 2025. Each research project can request up to $15,000 in credits. The credits can be used for any Azure service. We will award up to $200,000 in credits in total. Slow or delayed utilization of credits may result in credits being reassigned to other projects.
Who Can Apply?
Principal Investigators (PIs) and co-PIs should be faculty, postdocs, or research staff members at the University of Washington (including the Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses). An individual may participate as PI/co-PI on only one proposal. Co-investigators, consultants and other personnel are not limited by this restriction.
How to Apply
Proposals are being accepted on a rolling basis, however preference will be given to proposals received by EOD on January 10, 2025.
The proposal should contain:
- Project description (up to 2 pages) with a minimum of 10 point font;
- Proposals should include specific aims, background, significance and innovation, and methods.
- Proposals should include a description of how the computing credits will be used, and documentation that any other resources needed for this project are in place (for example, grant award notification, personnel who would undertake the work, or course approval documentation).
- Project development timeline (up to 1 page) should be included in each proposal that shows the milestones for the project including the expected usage of the Azure resources as a function of time;
- Expected usage of the Azure resources (up to 1 page) – please use the Azure pricing calculator for this step;
- References (no page limit).
Review Criteria
Proposals will be reviewed based on their suitability for cloud computing resources, as well as these specific criteria:
- Utilization of generative AI in accomplishing research goals
- Significance and innovation of the proposed research
- Likelihood of success
- Impact to the research field
- Potential for continuation, external funding and/or commercialization
Still have questions?
For general questions, please contact Executive Director Sarah Stone at sstone3@uw.edu.
For questions specifically about Microsoft Azure, please contact Rob Fatland at rob5@uw.edu or Azure at AzureUGrants@microsoft.com.