2. What is Microsoft Azure?
Tools for Research
• Virtual Machines
• Storage, backup, recovery
• Big compute
• SQL databases
• Identity and access management
• Application development
• And more
Open and Flexible
Supports any operating system, language , tool, and framework
including Linux, Python, Java, Hadoop, and the Microsoft .NET
Framework
Cloud Computing Platform
Infrastructure for building, deploying and managing applications
and services
3. Who is our Target Audience?
• Academic, government, and industry researchers
• Non-commercial researchers in academia across multiple disciplines, such as
computer science, biotechnology, genomics, urban sciences and climate change
“This project is a unique opportunity to put
together ecologists and computer
scientists, and develop new tools to
analyze data and visualize big datasets.”
-Rafael Oliveira, Professor of Ecology,
University of Campinas
VIEW CASE STUDY
“We wanted to combine the knowledge
and the science of the academic
community with the first response
capabilities of our public safety entities.
We had the tools and the ability—we just
needed to put them together.”
-Harry Evans, Chief of Staff,
Austin Fire Department
VIEW CASE STUDY
4. How Does Azure Help Researchers?
• Access quick experimentation without significant capital investment
• Recreate test environments in the cloud for boosted processing
power
• Run multiple virtual machines to run parallel data simulations
• Store data captured by instruments or sensors in Azure Tables
• Share information between multiple applications with Azure Queues
• Build websites to communicate findings
• Extend the scope of research applications to mobile devices
• And more…
5. Microsoft Azure for Research Program
The Microsoft Azure for Research Program (A4R) helps researchers use
the power of Azure to accelerate scientific discovery:
Award Program
for a free year
of Azure services
Hands-on training
from specialized
Azure experts
Technical papers
with in-depth
instructions
Case studies
demonstrating Azure
use in the field
One-hour webinars
demonstrating practical
uses of Azure in research
Online videos
for quick,
on-demand training
6. Azure for Research Award Program
Microsoft awards a year of free Azure services to researchers looking to solve
problems with cloud computing.
Winning proposals receive:
Up to 180,000 hours of free cloud computing time
20 TB of cloud storage resources
Training, tools, and resources
7. • Open call for proposals from any
branch of scholarly activity
• Must be affiliated with an academic
institution or non-profit
research laboratory
• Proposals due on the fifteenth of
even-numbered months:
• February
• April
• June
• August
• October
• December
Azure for Research Award Program
Bi-Monthly RFPs
Learn more about submitting a proposal
8. Azure for Research Award Program
Special-Opportunity RFPs
Microsoft periodically announces RFPs on specific cloud-based topics:
Topics announced on the Award Program page
and the Microsoft Research Connections Blog
Community research data services Environmental science
Streaming instrument data to the cloud Astronomy
Machine learning in the cloud Genomics
Large-scale image analysis Urban science
9. Special-Opportunity Proposals
Health and Wellbeing
Microsoft Azure Award for Ebola
For projects working toward a better understanding of the
Ebola virus.
• Open call for proposals with ongoing reviews.
• Applications must include “Ebola” in the title
Learn more about the
Azure Award for Ebola Research
10. Climate Data Award
Awarded to researchers
supporting the White House
Climate Action Plan.
• Deadline: February 15, 2015
• Applications must include
“CDI” in the title
Food Resilience Climate
Data Award
Awarded to researchers supporting
the resilience of food sources to
climate change.
• Deadline: February 15, 2015
• Applications must include
“Agriculture” in the title
Special-Opportunity Proposals
Earth, Energy, and Environment
Learn more about the
Food Resilience Climate
Data Initiative
Learn more about the
Climate Data Initiative
11. Data Science
Instructional Awards
• Provides individual accounts for each
student in an intermediate or
advanced data science class.
• 500GB of cloud data storage
• Deadline: February 15, 2015
• Must include “Azure Machine
Learning Instruction” in the title
Shared Workspaces for
Research Collaboration
• Provides a workspace for a group of
researchers interested in using Azure
to discover and share predictive
models.
• 10TB of cloud data storage
• Deadline: February 15, 2015
• Must include “Azure Machine
Learning Research” in the title
Special-Opportunity Proposals
Azure Machine Learning
Learn more about the Azure Machine Learning RFP
12. A4R Program Update
Biology Life
Science
Virtual
Machines
Countries 19
Universities 46
Students Registered 2580
Number of award winners around the world
163
North America
17
UK
36
China
23
APAC
96
EMEA92
LATAM
Domains
Usage Training Sessions
Computer
Science
Environmental
Science
Earth Science Engineering
Data ServicesBusiness Analytics
Cloud Services
Storage
13. Learn more about the Azure for Research program.
Apply for the Azure in Research Award Program.
Power Your Research
Research Connections
Blog
Azure for Research Blog
Editor's Notes
IaaS + PaaS
Ranked by Gartner as an industry leader for infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform –as-a –service (PaaS)
Combination of managed and unmanaged services lets you build, deploy, and manage applications the way you like for unmatched productivity
Hybrid Ready
Enterprise-proven hybrid cloud solutions expands your IT options without complexity
Data storage, backup, and recovery become more efficient and economical with easier to build applications on –premises and the cloud
Open and Flexible
Azure supports any operating system, language , tool and framework
It puts the best of Windows and Linux ecosystems so you can help build great applications and services that work on every device.
Always up and on
You’ll share the same enterprise-tested platform that powers Skype, Office 365, Bing, and Xbox. Azure offers a 99.95% availability SLA, 24x7 tech support, and round-the-clock service health monitoring.
That’s why more than 57% of Fortune 500 companies rely on Azure today. From live streaming Olympic events to online multiplayer online games, our customers are doing some amazing things.
Economical & Scalable
Azure can quickly scale up or down to match demand, so you only pay for what you use.
Per- minute billing and a commitment to match competitor prices for popular infrastructure services.
It’s everywhere
Azure runs on a growing global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters across 13 regions
Get a wide range of options for running applications and ensuring great performance.
How does Azure help researchers:
Access quick experimentation without significant capital investment
Recreate test environments in the cloud for boosted processing power
Run multiple virtual machines to run parallel data simulations
Store data captured by instruments or sensors in Azure Tables
Share information between multiple applications with Azure Queues
Build websites to communicate findings
Extend the scope of research applications to mobile devices
And more…
What is the award program?
Up to 180,000 hours of free cloud computing time
20 TB of cloud storage resources
Training, tools, resources…
We have had more than 800 proposals received since 2013 and 427 proposals granted
In addition to the presence we have particularly in Computer Science and Biology Life Science. We also have projects in Astronomy, Earth Science, Economics, Education, Engineering, Environmental Science, Information Science, Mathematics, Physics, Social Science and Urban Informatics
We have a large showing of usage with Virtual Machines. Our remaining usage falls under a variety of areas including: All Services, App Services, Business Analytics, Cache, Cloud Services, Data Management, Data Services, Integration, Storage and Web Sites