Request for Proposals

FSU / AWS Research Acceleration Fund

Apply Here: FSU FIRE Portal

Download a PDF of the RFP here.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a proposal to the FSU/AWS Research Acceleration Fund!

We are pleased to award 11 faculty-led projects that will advance research innovation through cloud-based technology and AWS support:

• "Cloud-Based AI Prototyping for the Pediatric Psychosocial Assessment Tool (PPAT)"
  • PI: Dr. Michael Killian (Social Work)
    • Co-PI: Dr. Zhe He
• "Cloud-Native Wireless Radiance Fields for Scalable Channel Rendering"
  • PI: Dr. Xin Liu (Computer Science)
• "Empirical Study on Technical Debt in LLM-Generated vs. Human-Written Code: A Cloud-Based Large-Scale Comparison"
  • PI: Dr. Sonia Haiduc (Computer Science)
• "The Psychology Workforce Observatory: High-Throughput Generative AI Analysis of Real-Time Labor Demands"
  • PI: Dr. Elaine Luo (Educational Psychology & Learning Systems)
• "A Cloud-Based Platform for Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression"
  • PI: Dr. Stewart Fotheringham (Geography)
    • Co-PIs: Zhipeng Li, Chen-Lun Kao, Jia-Jun Chang
• "Disentangling Sorting from Socialization: A Longitudinal Spatial Analysis of the American Electorate"
  • PI: Dr. Mehak Sachdeva (Urban & Regional Planning)
    • Co-PIs: Dr. Stewart Fotheringham, Dr. Mason Mathews
• "EnergyGPT: A Foundation Model for Modern Power and Energy Systems"
  • PI: Dr. Guang Wang (Computer Science)
• "High-Performance Cloud Computing for Ocean Circulation Surrogates and AI-Enabled Data Exploration"
  • PI: Dr. Olmo Zavala-Romero (Scientific Computing)
    • Co-PIs: Dr. Hristo Chipilski, Keshav Raja
• "Cloud-Based Molecular Dynamics and Drug Screening to Investigate Myofilament Protein Dynamics in Heart Disease"
  • PI:  Dr. Christopher Solis Ocampo (Health, Nutrition & Food Science)
    • Co-PI: Dr. Helene Tigro
• "Resilient Transportation Networks: Large-scale Optimization with AI and Quantum Computing" 
  • PI: Dr. Vivian Guo (Civil & Environmental Engineering)
    • Co-PI: Ziyue Li
• "Foundation Model for Atypical Communicative Gestures from Synchronized IMU and Video to Accelerate Accessible AAC"
  • PI: Dr. Dawn Sowers (Communication Science & Disorders)
    • Co-PI: Dr. Syed Billah 

You can view the presentation from the FSU/AWS Researcher Showcase and Awards Event here!

Request for Proposals​

A. Purpose of the Program

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the FSU Vice President for Research have partnered to invest $200,000 in a funding opportunity designed to advance research innovation through cloud-based technology. The program will provide faculty with up to $20,000 in Amazon Web Services and the opportunity to be trained on how to utilize the AWS platform – a secure environment – for their research needs. While priority will be given to those requesting High-Performance Computing services, other use cases include:

• Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: Tools for developing advanced models
• CPU and GPU computing
• Research Collaboration: Facilitate secure collaboration among research teams
• Analytics: Suite of tools to derive research insights
• Storage: Secure, scalable storage for research data
• Virtual Desktops: Remote access to virtual workstations
• Disaster Recovery: Robust solutions to protect academic and research data
• Internet of Things (IoT): Enable sensor-driven research projects
• Website and Application Hosting: Deploy and scale academic websites and apps

Note: This is not intended for departments to handle their operational needs.

Award Information

• Award amount: This is a one-time award of up to $20,000 in the form of AWS credits.
• Duration: 50% of the credits must be used in the first year, with a total award period of two years.

B. Eligibility

• Participation is open to all full-time, active-status FSU faculty (see Job Code Eligibility List).
• Students and post-docs are not eligible to be a PI. Undergrads, Grads, Post-docs and non-FSU can be included on the project team as Co-PIs. (Limit of 5 Co-PIs per application)
• Prior FSU/AWS competition winners are eligible to apply.

C. Important Dates

• Submission Deadline: Monday, January 5, 2026 by 5pm
• Award Notification: February 2026
• Award Period Start: 3/6/2026
• Award Period: Up to 24 months from the award period start date - 3/6/2026 - 3/4/2028

D. Selection Criteria

The following criteria will be used in the selection process:

1. Relevance and Impact:
• Service Use: What service is requested and for what purpose? (Note: priority will be given to well-developed proposals requesting high-performance computing and/or machine learning services).
• Alignment with Research Needs: Does the proposal clearly identify and address the specific web service needs of the faculty?
• Potential Impact: How will the proposed use enhance research productivity and outcomes?
2. Feasibility and Technical Merit:
• Technical Soundness: Are the technical aspects of the proposal well-developed and feasible?
• Implementation Plan: Is there a clear and realistic plan for developing and deploying the web services?
3. Sustainability and Scalability:
• Long-term Viability: Are there clear plans for next steps once the credits have been depleted?
4. Budget and Resource Allocation:
• Statement of Need: Is there a clear statement of need for this service?
• Resource Allocation: Are the resources (personnel, technology, etc.) in place to ensure success?

E. Proposal Preparation Instructions

Please provide the following:

• The title page should include the proposal title, the name of the PI and co-PIs.
• Proposed research (up to 2 pages) should provide background information, research objectives, and the rationale for needing AWS to complete their effort. Review criteria should be addressed. An estimated timeline for credit use with justification should be included in the justification. Pages must be formatted with 1" margins, utilizing 11pt Times New Roman or Arial font. Only a PDF version of your proposal will be accepted.
• For resubmissions: Please consider prior reviewer feedback in your revision, but it is not necessary to answer these questions separately.
• Curriculum vitae of the PI only, not to exceed 3 pages (in the NSF or NIH format).
• Current and pending funding information for the PI and all co-PIs, not to exceed 2 pages per PI.
• Note: The grant will only support Amazon Web Services costs. All other associated costs, including equipment purchases, such as computers and computing equipment, are not allowed.

F. Research Compliance

• Research Data uploaded to AWS must not be sensitive information that requires additional safeguards or dissemination controls. This can include data subject to HIPAA, FERPA, export controlled, controlled unclassified information, classified information, etc.

G. Application Submission Process

• Go to the FSU FIRE Portal to apply.
• Complete all the sections and upload each of the required elements.
• Applications cannot be altered after they are submitted. Please review the application prior to submission.
• Proposals with incomplete required fields will not be reviewed.

H. Application Review Process

• The Review Committee will consist of selected faculty and staff from the Office of Research and Information Technology Services.
• Reviewers will use the selection criteria cited in section E. for scoring the application.
• The Review Committee will recommend the finalists to the VP for Research.
• Funding decisions will be made based on the recommendations and will align with the funding allocated to the program.

I. Payback

• If a PI leaves the university, involuntarily or voluntarily, prior to the end of the award period, the awardee is responsible for notifying the Internal Funding Program Coordinator, Sherry Core, and remaining credits will be reallocated.

If you have questions about AWS, please contact Mike Repchak (IT) at mrepchak@fsu.edu. If you have questions about the submission portal, please contact Sherry Core (RD) at sbcore@fsu.edu.