Microsoft Awarding Azure Compute Services to Help Fight Ebola

During Satya's portion of Microsoft's Cloud event yesterday, as an almost aside, he noted that Microsoft will be making Azure compute power available to the academic research industry to help the world tackle Ebola outbreaks. Today, we're able to hear more about what that actually means.

Scott Guthrie, of course, made the majority of announcements during the event in San Francisco, but Satya's note about Ebola research, though brief, caught my attention. It's possible that the program was simply not ready yet.

Microsoft Research has unveiled a new project where it will grant a Microsoft Azure Award for Ebola Research to qualified applicants. Successful applicants will receive allocations of Microsoft Azure compute and storage resources to develop understanding of the spread and eventual cure for the Ebola virus.

Interested researchers can apply using an online application form. The form requires a proposal of three pages or less, a title that must include the word "Ebola," and applicants must be affiliated with an academic institution. Also, a Microsoft account is required. This will be used to logon to Microsoft Azure if and when access is awarded.

The request for proposals is ongoing with no deadline assigned, meaning the submission process will remain open until it is deemed no longer necessary.