DL : 16 September 2021 at 8:59 am

PURPOSE

This Program is intended to foster partnerships between Sony and university faculty and researchers.

It will support university research and innovation in 17 European countries*, U.S., Canada and India with awards of up to $150,000 USD per year for each accepted proposal.

*European countries included in the Program (new from 2021 in bold) are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

ELIGIBILITY

PI(s)

Members of UCLouvain's academic or tenured members of UCLouvain’s research staff (including permanent members of hospital staff with clinical academic status) and research scientists on the permanent staff of the F.R.S.-FNRS.

Co-PI(s)

It is possible to add one or more co-PIs to a proposal. However, only one award is made to the primary PI and the primary PI's university/institution if the proposal is selected.

All Co-PIs must meet the same eligibility criteria as that for a PI, and Co-PIs will be required to sign program documents.

Co-PIs may be from institutions in different participating countries but over 50% of research expenses must be spent within the country of the PI's institution.

DETAILS

The Sony Research Award Program provides funding for cutting-edge academic research and helps build a collaborative relationship between faculty and Sony researchers. With awards up to $150,000 USD per year for each accepted proposal, both the Faculty Innovation Award and Focused Research Award create new opportunities for university faculties to engage in pioneering research that could drive new technologies, industries and the future.

	Amount	Research Themes	Duration
Focused Research Award	Up to 150k USD	Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Efficient Distributed Deep Learning Beyond Data-parallelism and Model-parallelism Novel Actuator Liquid Crystal Alignment Technology for High-definition Pixels Novel Technologies for NIR-MIR VCSELs Development of AI-based/Evolutionary Algorithms for Computational Discovery of Novel Materials Spatial-omics Technologies Intelligent Sensing of Patient-Reported Outcomes Advanced Image Processing enabled by AI Machine Learning-based Digital Human Creation	1 year, with a possible extension
Faculty Innovation Award	Up to 100k USD	Information technology (machine learning ; robotics ; human sensing interaction ; audio, music, speech and language processing ; computer vision ; communications ; display system; RF sensing ; data mining ; brain technology ; visual/visualization ; security ; system architecture); Devices and materials (nanophotonics/photonic devices ; quantum device ; novel functional devices and materials ; analysis/simulation/informatics ; sustainable devices and materials ; optical computing ; display system); Biomedical and Life Science (digital health).	1 year, with a possible extension

PROCEDURE

Submissions must be done through the online submission form by 16 September 2021 at 8:59 am (Brussels time).

Please include the required items listed below in your submission:

• Title, abstract, methods, goals/milestones, references, and either one Focused Research Theme (if for the Focused Research Award) or one primary keyword (if for the Faculty Innovation Award).

• Please describe your submission's differentiation from the current state-of-the-art.

• Please include the best contact email address and phone number (complete with country code) for the PI.

All proposal contents must fit within 11 pages (a ten-page maximum proposal with references and a one-page budget summary). The file format must be a PDF or a MS Word file format and must be under 16 MB in size. Out of consideration to reviewers, please limit your minimum font size to a 10 point font.

The CV for the PI must be included when you submit a proposal. The CV file must be a separate file from the proposal file. There is no page limitation for the CV, however the CV file size must be under 16 MB.

MORE INFORMATION

Sony Group Portal - Sony Research Award Program

Contact at UCLouvain

Ms Anouk DISTELMANS (010/47 92 53 or TEAMS) until 30 July

Ms Bernadette DUBUS (010/47 29 22 or TEAMS) from 2 August

Statitical analysis of research data
The SMCS (UCLouvain's statistical support platform - Support request) is also at your disposal for any questions regarding the collection and analysis of your data.