Request For Proposals: Human-Robot Interaction 2007-2008: “Robots Among Us”

If you are an academic or non-profit robotics researcher, then you may be interested in the following news announced last week.

Our colleagues in Microsoft Research (External Research & Programs department) launched a new worldwide robotics research Request For Proposals (RFP) for such researchers. For full details, guidelines, eligibility and submission instructions, please visit:

https://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/fundingopps/rfps/HRI_RFP.aspx

As noted in the RFP usage of MSRS is encouraged as it eases the sharing of the resulting software with the whole academic community and beyond.

SUMMARY

HRI is a large field with many active research projects in universities and other labs around the world. But much of the research to date has been focused on the robot and human somewhat in isolation from the broader computing environment around them. Our intention in this RFP is to focus attention on the general paradigm shift from “robots as tools” to “social robots”, and consider HRI in the context of the existence of a plethora of other computing devices deployed in the modern human environment, including PCs, Smartphones and the World-Wide Web.

The specific details and objectives of the RFP are detailed in the document linked above.

AWARDS

The total amount available under the RFP is US$500,000. Microsoft Research anticipates making approximately 7-10 awards averaging US$50,000, with a maximum of US$70,000 for any single award. Awards are for 1 year.

DEADLINE

Thursday, December 13, 2007, 12:00 Noon PST (PST is -8 UTC/GMT)

QUESTIONS

Please see the full RFP at:

https://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/fundingopps/rfps/HRI_RFP.aspx

thanks

Joseph Fernando