About this opportunity
Amazon builds assurance into its cloud systems with automated reasoning, applying mathematical logic to answer questions and prove properties about software and hardware. The Fall 2026 call invites academic and non-governmental research groups to propose work in that field, from sound neurosymbolic reasoning that combines large language models, automated solvers and proof checking, to interfaces between language models, solvers and interactive theorem provers.
The listed research areas are broad. Amazon welcomes proposals on the auto-formalisation of system specifications and requirements, including detecting ambiguity, vacuity and inconsistency in informal descriptions, and on measuring how completely a formal specification covers an implementation. Solver work counts too, including improvements to SAT, SMT and CHC solvers, quantifier reasoning and premise selection, along with static analysis such as dataflow analysis, taint checking and abstract interpretation, software model checking, and correct-by-construction methods like Dafny and Verus.
Verification of distributed protocols, provable approaches to privacy and security including side-channel properties, automated software synthesis and optimisation, and programming logics and semantics for languages such as Rust, Dafny, Python, Go, Java, TypeScript, C and assembly all sit inside the call. So does work on formal models of hardware and the hardware software interface, reasoning systems that prove a circuit netlist satisfies component constraints, and robustness analysis for perception neural networks, where small changes to an input image can flip a prediction.
A Principal Investigator must be a full-time faculty member at an accredited academic institution, or a permanent researcher at a non-governmental organisation with recognised legal status in its country. The rules exclude anyone who is a paid employee of a government entity other than an accredited academic institution, anyone under United States export controls or sanctions, and anyone who was a director, officer, employee, intern or contractor of Amazon in the twelve months before submission. Awards are one-time unrestricted gifts paid to the institution, and the programme is void in Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea and the Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine.
What you receive
- Unrestricted research funds of no more than 80,000 USD, paid to your institution as a one-time gift
- AWS Promotional Credits of no more than 40,000 USD
- Training resources, including AWS tutorials and hands-on sessions with Amazon scientists and engineers
- A research partnership with the team that applies automated reasoning to cloud systems at scale
- Standing to be listed among Amazon Research Awards recipients, with recognition in the Amazon Science programme
Who can apply
- You are a full-time faculty member at an accredited academic institution, or a permanent researcher at a non-governmental organisation with recognised legal status in its country
- You are not a paid employee of a government entity, other than an accredited academic institution
- You are not under United States export controls or sanctions
- You have not been a director, officer, employee, intern or contractor of Amazon within the twelve months before submission
- You are not a member of the immediate family or household of someone who fails that Amazon test
- You have not participated in, or held decision-making authority over, cloud infrastructure procurements involving Amazon
Who should not apply
- Amazon employees, including employees of Amazon Web Services, cannot receive an award
- Proposals from anyone in Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea or the Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine, where the programme is void
- Proposals that include confidential information or any part marked as confidential
- Budgets that carry administrative overhead costs
Documents to prepare
- A proposal of a maximum of four pages, prepared on the Amazon Research Awards proposal template and excluding appendices
- Answers to the four questions the call lists, covering your application domain, current applications of the work, its potential value to Amazon and any past Amazon Research Award
- Details of any tool your work depends on, including its licence, onboarding or tutorial material, recent commit activity and active contributors
- A budget of expected costs stated in USD
How to apply
- Read the Automated Reasoning call for proposals on the Amazon Science site and confirm your topic sits in the listed research areas
- Check the Amazon Research Awards rules page, since the call defers every applicant test to it
- Write your proposal on the Amazon Research Awards template, keeping the body to four pages and the budget in USD without overhead
- Sign up or log in to the Amazon academic research portal and submit before 4 November 2026 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time
Selection process
- Funding decisions weigh relevance to Amazon problems, the impact on automated reasoning research and the development of that scientific community
- Amazon states that its commitment to the community includes growing the number of students working in the field at undergraduate and graduate level
- Decision letters go out in February 2027
Sources and verification
Related opportunities
- AWS Cryptography Research Grant 2026, Up To 80,000 USD In Unrestricted Funds Plus AWS Credits For Cryptography Researchers
The team that sets cryptographic standards inside Amazon is funding outside research on the subject, from formal proofs of security for primitives to verified optimisation of cryptographic code on x86 and Arm processors. A selected Principal Investigator receives unrestricted funds of up to 80,000 USD, up to 40,000 USD in AWS Promotional Credits and training with Amazon scientists. University faculty and qualifying non-governmental researchers worldwide may apply, and proposals close on 4 November 2026 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
Questions applicants ask
Can a researcher at a Nigerian or other African university apply?
Yes. The rules ask only that the Principal Investigator be full-time faculty at an accredited academic institution, or a permanent researcher at a non-governmental organisation with recognised legal status in its country. The programme is void in a short list of sanctioned places, and no African country is on it.
Is the money tied to a specific project deliverable?
No. Amazon Research Awards are structured as one-time unrestricted gifts paid directly to the institution of the Principal Investigator.
How long can the proposal be?
The call encourages a maximum of four pages, not counting appendices, prepared on the Amazon Research Awards proposal template.
When will I hear back?
The submission period runs from 1 October to 4 November 2026, and decision letters are sent out in February 2027.
Important disclaimer
Nextali researches and curates useful opportunities to make discovery easier. Before applying, verify every timeline, requirement, fee and application link on the official provider website. Do your own research into the organisation, its background and the authenticity of the offer. Nextali does not guarantee selection, funding or the conduct of third party providers.
