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Frequently asked questions

In addition to the FAQs below, please view the ARA Program Rules.
General
General
What research areas does ARA fund?
ARA funds in a variety of research areas relevant to Amazon, such as applied machine learning, automated reasoning, computer vision, fairness in artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms and theory, natural language processing, robotics, security, sustainability and more. Please refer to the detailed CFPs for more information.
What types of proposals does ARA fund?
The Amazon Research Awards (ARA) program funds academic research and related contributions to open-source projects by top academic researchers around the world.
What is the structure of an ARA award? Can it be extended?
Awards are structured as one-time unrestricted gifts to the Principal Investigator's academic institution or organization, and can include cash and AWS Promotional Credits. Though this funding is not extendable, applicants can submit new proposals for subsequent calls.
Applying for an award
How do I apply?
Please follow the instructions on the specific CFP you are applying to.
Who is eligible to apply?
Researchers from around the world are encouraged to apply. Please refer to the ARA Program Rules for eligibility.
What are the timelines for proposal submissions and decisions?
We evaluate research proposals and provide decisions via email to all applicants approximately three months after the submission deadline. Please follow the timeline on the specific CFP you are applying to.
What is an Amazon contact and is one required to apply?
An Amazon contact is an Amazon employee who is aware of the proposal, familiar with the Principal Investigator’s research and may be willing to serve as an Amazon research contact for the proposal, if it is selected. An Amazon contact is not required to submit a proposal. While the ARA team is not able to provide an Amazon contact for the PI prior to submission, all funded proposals will be assigned an Amazon research contact by the review panel.
Is it possible to have multiple faculty members on a single proposal?
Each proposal application should be submitted by a single faculty member, who will serve as the Primary PI. One co-PI per proposal can be included in the application form. ARA defines a co-PI as an individual equally accountable for research performance and management of funding. Formal co-PI’s must be a full-time faculty/permanent researcher and meet ARA eligibility requirements. Other members of the research team can and should be mentioned within the proposal.
Is it possible for one faculty member to be on multiple grants?
Principle Investigators can only submit one proposal at each deadline. A Primary PI can be listed as a co-PI on an additional proposal, but must withdraw if the other proposal is selected. It’s also possible that another CFP may decide to fund your research, if it meets the scope of that CFP.
What budget expenses should I include in my proposal submission?
A proposed cash budget is generally expected to support one to two graduate students (or a post-doctoral researcher) for one year, plus some conference travel and equipment. The budget should include a list of expected costs specified in USD and is not required to include administrative overhead costs. The final award amount will be determined by the awards panel. Please refer to the CFP for specific budget guidelines.


Additionally, proposals may include a request for AWS Promotional Credits1. Proposals should include the requested amount, a short justification, a list of AWS products and any AWS Public Datasets to be used in the proposed research. The final amount of free AWS Promotional Credits will be determined by the awards panel.


1. Please note that your use of any AWS Promotional Credit is subject to the general AWS Customer Agreement terms or other terms governing your use of AWS Services (“Agreement”). In the event of a conflict between these Rules and the Agreement, the Agreement will control with respect to your access to and use of the Service Offerings. Additionally, any use of AWS Promotional Credit will be in accordance with and subject to the AWS Promotional Credit Terms & Conditions. In the event of a conflict between these Rules and the AWS Promotional Credit Terms & Conditions, the AWS Promotional Credit Terms & Conditions will govern with respect to any AWS Promotional Credit you receive.
Proposal review process
Who evaluates the proposals and when will I know the outcome?
Project proposals are reviewed by an internal awards panel and the results are communicated approximately three months after the submission deadline. We will communicate the decision to the primary PI listed on each proposal, and will make an announcement on the ARA website. We expect the primary PI to notify the rest of their team about funding decisions.
Will I be able to find out why my proposal was not accepted?
Unfortunately, due to the number of proposals we receive, we are unable to provide detailed reasons a proposal was not accepted.
Award information
What happens after the ARA recipients are announced?
Each project will be assigned an Amazon research contact. The researchers are encouraged to maintain regular communication with their Amazon contact to discuss ongoing research and project progress. We also encourage publishing the outcome of the project and committing any related code to open-source code repositories.
Does Amazon retain any intellectual property and licensing on the material developed during the time period that a student is funded?
ARA funding is distributed as unrestricted gifts to universities. As such, the funding does not result in any transfer or license of any intellectual property rights. Please refer to the ARA Program Rules for more information.
Do recipients have access to Amazon data?
Recipients will have access to Amazon datasets that are already public, such as the Amazon Bin Image Dataset, but not to non-public data.
Does Amazon accept any legal obligation with respect to submitted proposals?
We are happy to review non-confidential project proposals. As such, project proposals shall not contain any confidential information (please do not include any information in your proposal that you or others consider confidential). Amazon does not accept any legal obligation (whether of confidentiality, compensation, return or otherwise) with respect to any proposals. Amazon reserves the right to implement similar ideas in the future without restriction or obligation. Please refer to the ARA Program Rules for more information.
Other
How can I contact the ARA team?
We provide limited email support via research-awards@amazon.com. Due to the volume of emails we receive, we may not be able to respond to questions where the answer is available on the website.
How can I find out about future ARA calls for proposals?
Please email research-awards@amazon.com to be added to the CFP email announcement.
Is the AWS Machine Learning Research Awards (MLRA) part of ARA?
Yes, in 2020 the two programs merged and MLRA now funds awards through ARA, under the AWS AI call for proposal.
Does Amazon provide any other funding opportunities?
Yes, please visit the collaborations page for more information.

Work with us

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Applied Scientist II, Prime Video - Personalization and Discovery Science
US, WA, Seattle
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Sr. Applied Scientist, Prime Video - Personalization and Discovery Science
US, NY, New York
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Senior Applied Scientist, Artificial General Intelligence
US, CA, Sunnyvale
The Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) team is looking for a highly skilled and experienced Senior Applied Scientist, to lead the development and implementation of algorithms and models for supervised fine-tuning and reinforcement learning through human feedback; with a focus across text, image, and video modalities. As a Senior Applied Scientist, you will play a critical role in driving the development of Generative AI (Gen AI) technologies that can handle Amazon-scale use cases and have a significant impact on our customers' experiences. Key job responsibilities - Collaborate with cross-functional teams of engineers, product managers, and scientists to identify and solve complex problems in GenAI - Design and execute experiments to evaluate the performance of different algorithms and models, and iterate quickly to improve results - Think big about the arc of development of GenAI over a multi-year horizon, and identify new opportunities to apply these technologies to solve real-world problems - Communicate results and insights to both technical and non-technical audiences, including through presentations and written reports - Mentor and guide junior scientists and engineers, and contribute to the overall growth and development of the team
Applied Scientist III, Mexico Consumer
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Applied Scientist II, Intech Latam APAC ML
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Applied Scientist III, Intech Latam APAC ML
BR, SP, Sao Paulo
Do you like working on projects that are highly visible and are tied closely to Amazon’s growth? Are you seeking an environment where you can drive innovation leveraging the scalability and innovation with Amazon's AWS cloud services? The Amazon International Technology Team is hiring Applied Scientists to work in our Software Development Center in Sao Paulo. The Intech team builds International extensions and new features of the Amazon.com web site for individual countries and creates systems to support Amazon operations. We have already worked in Germany, France, UK, India, China, Italy, Brazil and more. Key job responsibilities About you You want to make changes that help millions of customers. You don’t want to make something 10% better as a part of an enormous team. Rather, you want to innovate with a small community of passionate peers. You have experience in analytics, machine learning and big data, and a desire to learn more about these subjects. You want a trusted role in strategy and product design. You put the customer first in your thinking. You have great problem solving skills. You research the latest data technologies and use them to help you innovate and keep costs low. You have great judgment and communication skills, and a history of delivering results. Your Responsibilities - Define and own complex machine learning solutions in the consumer space, including targeting, measurement, creative optimization, and multivariate testing. - Influence the broader team's approach to integrating machine learning into business workflows. - Advise senior leadership, both tech and non-tech. - Make technical trade-offs between short-term needs and long-term goals.
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