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Research Funding
Cisco Research engages with academia to share knowledge and experience from the ground, and we collaborate with research labs across many domains to pave the way for our future innovations. Our primary funding mechanism is research gifts: universities and non-profits are eligible to apply to one of our open Requests for Proposals. We also continue to support sponsored research agreements with strategic partners and existing collaborators.
Sponsored Research
Cisco Research continues to support sponsored research agreements with strategic partners and existing collaborators to foster research and innovation. Below is a list of universities we currently partner with for sponsored research projects.
Princeton University
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Michigan
Purdue University
University of California San Diego
University of Edinburgh
Carnegie Mellon University
Research Gifts
Cisco Research connects with engineers and researchers from academia and world-class research labs. Through research gifts we enable exploration of issues and topics relevant to our core and adjacent business. We are constantly expanding into new areas of research to maximize business, technology and societal impact. Explore our Open RFPs to learn more about current top of mind items that Cisco Research is currently accepting research proposals on. Learning more below about the research gift requirements and application process.
Who May Apply?
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. If a PI is approved for funding, Cisco Research will only fund a PI one proposal at a time and you will not be eligible to resubmit another proposal request until your funding has ended and your impact report is completed.
Intellectual Property
DO NOT submit any confidential or proprietary information to Cisco unless you have executed the appropriate Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Cisco uses information and materials you provide to conduct an internal review and evaluation. Cisco has no obligation with respect to that information and material.
General Terms and Conditions for Research Gifts
Standard Term of the Gift is one year from approval date.
Cisco extends Gift Funds to Donee solely for the purpose of pursuing scientific research in the area proposed by the PI.
An impact report will be requested upon completion of the project. The PI will receive an email requesting a report to be completed online. The report gathers information about published papers and presentations, financial summary of expense, overview of research results.
Cisco has no expectation of obtaining or retaining any business or securing any improper competitive advantages as a consequence of providing this Gift to Donee.
Donee, through its employees and representatives, has not provided, nor represented that it would provide, to Cisco, any business or other competitive advantage to Cisco on account of such Gift.