Cisco accepts research proposals on topics chosen by researchers. Proposal topics may cover a wide range of networking related areas. Awards are made principally on technical merits of the research.
To be considered for an award, your proposal must have an internal Cisco engineering sponsor. A Cisco sponsor is your contact and collaborator within the Cisco technical community that develops Cisco products, processes, or services; the sponsor is responsible for facilitating the two way flow of information between Cisco and you.
Researchers may identify sponsors through Cisco Research RFPs, conferences, workshops, personal networking, and contacting research@cisco.com for suggestions.
Cisco encourages research across a broad range of areas, and invites research proposals on topics of your choice. Some example areas include, but are not limited to:
Other: New network applications and new ways to use networks, performance prediction, effect of new traffic types and scale, mechanisms for social interaction.
The "Proposal Submission" section below provides a link for submission of your proposal.
The proposal should include a one-page (or less) Summary or Abstract of the project, as well as a full description of the proposed research. Other information required includes the names of additional faculty and student investigators, a budget, Cisco hardware requirements, a brief summary of anticipated research collaboration with Cisco, and administrative information.
The full project description should outline the specific problem and goals of the research, and ideally be limited to two pages. The proposal description may be entered as either a pdf file or as text in the appropriate section of the application.
Once submitted, your application should be as complete as possible, so you may wish to familiarize yourself with the online application before beginning.
An award is normally made as an unrestricted gift to your institution, and intellectual property developed in your project remains with the institution to which the award was made; Cisco makes no claims on it.
Cisco intends to use the information and material you submit to conduct an internal review and evaluation of the research you propose. However, your submission neither creates nor implies any obligations on the part of Cisco or its affiliates or partners, and Cisco's decisions regarding any proposal are the sole discretion of Cisco reviewers and are not subject to appeal or review.
The Applicant and Principal Investigator listed on a proposal must each be a full-time faculty or research staff member at a university or other research institution. Students, adjunct faculty, or part-time faculty/staff may participate in the research and be listed on the proposal but may not be a Principal Investigator. To be eligible to receive an award, an institution subject to U.S. tax law must qualify as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Non-U.S. institutions must provide proof of non-profit equivalency.
Submissions-to-date are reviewed at the beginning of each quarter (the first business day of: January, April, July, October). All proposals received by the deadline that include an internal Cisco engineering sponsor will be sent for review Proposals without internal Cisco engineering sponsors will be delayed until one is identified.
