The Science Hub invites nominations for 2025 Amazon Research Innovation Fellowships.

Each year, the Science Hub solicits nominations for outstanding UCLA Samueli School of Engineering doctoral students to be awarded Amazon Research Innovation Fellowships. Each Amazon Research Innovation Fellow will be provided with a fellowship covering stipend, tuition and fees for up to two quarters during the upcoming academic year to pursue independent research projects. In addition, the nominees will be considered for paid summer internships at Amazon, providing valuable industry insights and experience through direct engagement with Amazon researchers.

Eligibility

• Nominations should be submitted by a student’s faculty adviser.
• Nominees must be enrolled in a doctorate degree program at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, be in good standing, and have exhibited outstanding academic performance.
• Only doctoral students in their second, third, or fourth year of the Ph.D. program will be considered.

Fellowship

Selected Amazon Research Innovation Fellows will be offered the associated Amazon Research Innovation Fellowship with the following parameters:

• Stipend award of $11,648 per quarter for two quarters plus tuition, fees and non-resident supplemental tuition (if applicable) during the 2025-26 academic year
• Fellowships are tentatively scheduled to be funded during Fall and Winter quarters. Students may request the fellowship to be deferred by one quarter if needed.
• Fellowships will not be funded in conjunction with any paid positions or other major financial awards.
• In the event that a student is ineligible to receive the fellowship, s/he may still retain the “Amazon Research Innovation Fellow” title and will be eligible to participate in the associated activities.

Expectations and Activities

• Amazon Research Innovation Fellows are expected to pursue an independent research project during the award period and may not hold any paid positions in conjunction with the Amazon Research Innovation Fellowship.
• Amazon Research Innovation Fellows may be paired with an Amazon scientist in a similar discipline to serve as a mentor.
• Amazon Research Innovation Fellows are expected to present their research progress in a poster presentation during the annual Science Hub Showcase, usually held in the Fall.
• Amazon Research Innovation Fellows are expected to present a lightning talk on their research progress at a seminar event during the Winter quarter.
• Amazon Research Innovation Fellows are expected to provide a written report summarizing their research findings at the conclusion of their fellowship year based on guidelines to be provided.
• Amazon Research Innovation Fellows have the opportunity to be considered for paid summer internships at Amazon.

Nomination Submission Guideline

Nomination materials to be submitted online in PDF format on standard letter-sized pages, with 12pt font, single-spaced, and 1” margins. Package to include the following:

• Student’s resume with education history, awards, publications, link to his/her webpage (2-page maximum)
• Student’s personal statement, including a description of research interests (2-page maximum, not including references)
• Student’s diversity statement (450-word maximum)
• 2 letters of recommendation from UCLA faculty on official letterhead

Link for submission form to come

Submission Deadline: March 12, 2025

The Advisory Group will review research proposals and provide recommendations to the Science Hub Director. The Science Hub Director will make final recommendations to Amazon for the proposals on behalf of UCLA, taking into consideration UCLA’s academic mission, the mission and strategic vision of the Science Hub, the recommendations from the Advisory Group, and the potential impact of societal interest. Amazon executives will make final decisions regarding the funding of research proposals.

The Advisory Group will review nominations for fellowships and provide recommendations to the Science Hub Director. The Science Hub Director will make final recommendations for Fellowships, taking into consideration UCLA’s academic mission, the mission and strategic vision of the Science Hub, the recommendations from the Advisory Group, and the potential impact of societal interest. The Dean of Engineering will make the final decisions for fellowships.

During the review process, any person who has a conflict of interest with a proposal or a nomination will be excused from the review of that case.

For every project/fellowship that Amazon funds, it will assign an Amazon Research Liaison (ARL), who is a subject matter expert that will serve as your primary point of contact. For gift-funded research, the ARL is a reactive advisor that can offer a light-touch for non-confidential questions from the project team. The ARL will seek to establish regular touch points with you to stay informed about your research and progress on the project, serving as a link to Amazon’s scientific community. In some cases, e.g., interest in your project from multiple Amazon science teams, additional adjunct ARLs may be assigned. Amazon encourages ARLs to maintain the relationship with faculty even after the funding cycle is complete.

No proposal responding to this call may contain any confidential information and no part may be marked as ‘confidential.’ Amazon does not accept any legal obligation (whether of confidentiality, compensation, return or otherwise) with respect to any proposals. Amazon may use, edit, modify, copy, reproduce, and distribute all or a portion of the proposal within Amazon’s organization for the purpose of managing the UCLA Science Hub, including for evaluating the contents of submitted proposals and for matching interested Amazon scientists and teams to funded proposals and university research members. Amazon reserves the right to implement competitive, similar, or identical ideas in the future, without restriction or obligation. You understand and acknowledge that Amazon has wide access to technology, designs, and other materials, and may work on and/or develop projects and ideas that may be competitive with, similar to, or identical to your proposal in theme, idea, format or other respects, inclusive. You acknowledge and agree that you will not be entitled to any compensation as a result of Amazon’s use of any such similar or identical material that has or may come to Amazon from other sources. When preparing your proposal, please focus on research objectives that can be achieved without access to nonpublic Amazon data or data with noncommercial license restrictions. Proposals should be scoped to use publicly available information or data that can be independently collected or generated, as Amazon does not plan to share any proprietary or confidential data for this call.

You acknowledge and agree that Amazon may collect, store, share, and otherwise use personally identifiable information provided during this call for proposals and nominations, including but not limited to, name, mailing address, phone number, and email address.  All personally identifiable information collected is subject to, and will be used in accordance with, the Amazon Privacy Notice, including for administering the call for proposals and nominations and verifying applicant’s identities, addresses, and telephone numbers in the event a proposal is selected for funding. By participating in the call for proposals and nominations, you consent to the transfer of personal data to the United States for purposes of administering the call for proposals and nominations as well as for additional purposes that are consistent with goals relating to the UCLA Science Hub. The data controller for information collected by Amazon is Amazon.com Services, Inc., 410 Terry Ave North, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA.