———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Ed Lazowska <lazowska@cs.washington.edu>
Date: Thu, Nov 5, 2015 at 10:17 AM
Subject: [cs-ugrads] Amazon Catalyst
To: Researchers <researchers@cs.washington.edu>, “cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu” <cs-ugrads@cs.washington.edu>
Amazon and the University of Washington are excited to launch Amazon Catalyst at the UW:
a new initiative to provide funding and mentorship for bold, globally impactful, disruptive projects proposed by members of the university community. Through this collaboration, Amazon and the University of Washington hope to nurture and expand the entrepreneurial ecosystem for all people in greater Seattle.
Amazon Catalyst’s goal is to help people develop solutions to key problems faced in the world today. Problems can be diverse, from computer security, to immigration, to climate change. Because issues like these are complex, solutions will come from many different fields and many different perspectives. Therefore, the grants are open to all disciplines, including the humanities, arts, social sciences, medicine, law, engineering, etc., and to all members of the UW community, including professors, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, nurses, librarians, staff members, and others. We want to enable people with a passion for invention to take an unconventional approach to a problem and develop that big idea.
Grants will be awarded for projects that take place over a period of several months to up to two years, and will range from $10,000 to $100,000 each with no overhead costs (100% of awarded funding goes to the applicants). Successful applicants will be called “Amazon Catalyst Fellows.” There are specific rules about the management of intellectual property developed from Amazon Catalyst projects (see the FAQ for more detail). Projects that show success in the grant period may have the option for follow-on support through continued collaboration with Amazon.