Microsoft, NSF Offer Scientists Azure AccessMicrosoft, NSF Offer Scientists Azure Access

Microsoft and the National Science Foundation are partnering to allow government-funded scientists free access to Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud computing platform, the two announced today.

The goal of the effort, NSF assistant director for computer and information science and engineering Jeanette Wang said in a Webcast, is to spur both scientific and computer engineering innovation by giving scientists access to highly scalable cloud services, particularly for data-intensive uses.

"Sensors, instruments, the Web, and people are generating ribbons and streams of data," Wang said. "We're seeing our scientists and engineers drowning in data. However, all this information is meaningless unless you can derive new knowledge from it."

However, the offering won't be open to everyone. The NSF will choose among applicants, awarding the most innovative with the free access. NSF is particularly looking for researchers studying new programming models for the cloud, massively parallel algorithms, and scientific and computational science applications, particularly ones that are "completely out-of-the-box," according to Wang.

So, although Microsoft and NSF hyped the effort with a Webcast and a number of press releases, it's unclear exactly what the real scope of the offering will be. Asked how many research projects she hopes will take advantage of the offer, Wang said that she expects "at least tens" of projects to do so.

Researchers will be awarded funding for their Azure-based projects through three different funding mechanisms: supplemental grants to existing awards, Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (also known as EAGER awards), and a forthcoming solicitation program called "Computing in the Cloud."

Under the effort, researchers will have free access to Azure for three years and a "substantial" amount of free storage. Both supplemental and EAGER proposals are due by April 15, according to the NSF.

Microsoft is also setting up a "technology engagement team" that will work directly with researchers to help them develop the tools they need, according to Dan Reed, VP of technology strategy and policy and extreme computing for Microsoft.