Call for Abstracts: MIT-Amazon Science Hub

The MIT Science Hub, established in 2021, is requesting 1-page abstract proposals for review on selected topics. This is part of a two-stage process. In the first stage, PIs will submit Abstracts for initial review, and in the second stage, a subset of the PIs who have submitted abstracts will be encouraged to submit full proposals.
 
The call will be administered by the MIT Science Hub per the terms of the gift agreement between MIT and Amazon.

Topics

The Amazon Device & Services Design Group (DDG) is a multidisciplinary design and technology organization responsible for the user experiences of Echo Family Devices, Alexa, Fire TV, Fire Tablets, and more.  DDG’s mission is to create delightful, easy-to-use, and high-value experiences for Amazon’s customers.  The team weaves together artists, researchers, designers, scientists, and engineers—all focused on keeping human factors at the center of experimentation, exploration, and experiences.
 
DDG is collaborating with the MIT Science Hub to request abstract proposals on the following topics:

  1. Sensing, vision, and physical contextual awareness: Sensors and cameras are increasingly part of everything we do, from presence to position to pose; with privacy. Examples include radar, camera systems, neural interfaces, sensing surfaces, and hyperspectral imaging.
  2. Display, presentation, and communication: We’re practiced at putting flat pictures on rectangles or playing sound from speakers, but what ways to reach people are we missing? Examples include depth displays, tactility, targeted audio, and physical interfaces.
  3. Procedural scalable design and experience extension: As we move beyond AI chat agents, we need to bring probabilistic systems and machine inference to user experiences that emphasize the human part of HCI. Examples include AI context-adaptive UX, data-dependent presentation, and multi-device orchestrated experiences.
  4. Hybrid cloud/edge architectures and models of operation: How do we balance the power of cloud processing with latency and privacy? How do we balance energy and experiences? Examples include methods for split and server-interactive techniques, systems for multi-context agentic operation, data structures for seamless distributed UX, and privacy-centric techniques for delegate resource use.

Timeline

  • April 28: Abstract submission deadline
  • May 9: Notifications to PI to request full proposal
  • May 26: Full proposal submission date

Submission Requirements

  • Completed application questions
  • Project abstract proposal (1 page maximum not including references)
  • Short budget request (i.e. graduate student, $100k for one year).  Please note fund fees will apply.  Anticipated funding amounts ~ $100,000.
  • CV’s for PI/co-PI (2 pages maximum)
Submit Here

Application Content

No proposal to this CFP may contain any confidential information and no part may be marked as ‘confidential.’ Amazon does not accept any legal obligation (whether of confidentiality, compensation, return or otherwise) with respect to any proposals. Amazon may use, edit, modify, copy, reproduce, and distribute all or a portion of the proposal within Amazon’s organization for the purpose of managing the MIT Science Hub, including for evaluating the contents of submitted proposals and for matching interested Amazon scientists and teams to funded proposals and university research members. Amazon reserves the right to implement competitive, similar, or identical ideas in the future, without restriction or obligation. You understand and acknowledge that Amazon has wide access to technology, designs, and other materials, and may work on and/or develop projects and ideas that may be competitive with, similar to, or identical to your proposal in theme, idea, format or other respects, inclusive. You acknowledge and agree that you will not be entitled to any compensation as a result of Amazon’s use of any such similar or identical material that has or may come to Amazon from other sources.

When preparing your proposal, please focus on research objectives that can be achieved without access to nonpublic Amazon data or data with noncommercial license restrictions. Proposals should be scoped to use publicly available information or data that can be independently collected or generated, as Amazon does not plan to share any proprietary or confidential data for this call.

Privacy

You acknowledge and agree that we may collect, store, share, and otherwise use personally identifiable information provided during this CFP, including but not limited to, name, mailing address, phone number, and email address. All personally identifiable information collected is subject to, and will be used in accordance with, the Amazon Privacy Notice, including for administering the CFP and verifying applicant’s identities, addresses, and telephone numbers in the event a proposal is selected for funding. By participating in the CFP, you consent to the transfer of personal data to the United States for purposes of administering the CFP and additional purposes that are consistent with goals relating to the MIT Science Hub. The data controller for information collected by us is Amazon.com Services, Inc., 410 Terry Ave North, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA.