Microsoft - High Performance Computing Scholars Program

Introduction

Do you have an idea for research that requires extensive computational calculations? Is the lack of opportunity or the lack of resources holding you back? If you have been waiting to put that great idea into a practical research solution through high performance computing, the Microsoft HPC Scholar vs. Scholar 2008 contest is designed just for you!

High Performance Computing (HPC) is helping researchers and academicians address some of the most complex problems that require extensive computational calculations. These include problems from such diverse fields as Animation, Economics, Engineering, Biology, Finance, Medicine, Mining, and Geology. Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 ('Windows CCS') software is designed to help you setup a small HPC environment in your lab by connecting a few servers together.

The Microsoft HPC Scholars program gives

Students the opportunity to preview computational research as a career option, the experience to work in teams and build a collaborative attitude and the chance to win the prestigious Microsoft HPC Scholars Student Champion Award worth US $1000.
Faculty the opportunity to setup their own computational research infrastructure through research grants worth US $5000, hardware and software licenses.

How to participate

•	Form a team of up to three students and identify a faculty research advisor at your institute.
•	Under his guidance, prepare a 1 or 2 page research proposal of your HPC project that utilizes Windows CCS.
•	Download the registration form. Fill the form and submit it to hpcacad@microsoft.com before June 15, 2008.
•	Procure a minimum of 5 Windows CCS licenses not later than June 15, 2008. Click here if you would like to have a Microsoft Certified Partner contact you for the same.

Testimonial

“Our on-going work in the area of distributed computing motivated us to look at Microsoft HPC Scholar vs. Scholar contest. Such contests encourage individuals to think innovatively to initiate experimental ideas to solve real world problems.”
Prof. Sanjay Chaudhary
Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information & Communication Technology
Gandhinagar

Scholar vs. Scholar 2007 Award Winners

The awards were presented to the winners by Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Mr. Craig Mundie and Microsoft India Chairman Mr. Ravi Venkatesan during the Microsoft Interoperability Conclave held on Oct 11, 2007 at the Taj West End in Bangalore. For their visit to Bangalore, the winners’ travel and accommodation costs were borne by Microsoft.
Student Awards:

Project Name: Genomancer - Prediction of HIV Gene Sequences
1) Mr. Vaibhav Saini
2) Mr. Abhishek Jain
3) Mr. Deepak Gupta
Project Name: Dynamic Traffic Congestion Monitoring System
1) Mr. Ankur Chakraborty
2) Mr. Divey Chandra
3) Mr. Kaustubh
Project Name: Global Warming Solution System
1) Mr. Ashish Sharma
Project Name: Analysis of Software Testing using optimization techniques
1) Mr. Praveen Ranjan Srivastava

Faculty Research Grants:
Prof. Raghurama G., BITS Pilani	Prof. Sanjay Chaudhary, DAIICT

Terms and Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR "MICROSOFT HPC SCHOLARS PROGRAM STUDENT AND FACULTY RESEARCH AWARD" CONTEST

Following terms and conditions (the "Terms & Conditions") shall apply to the contest (detailed in paragraph A 1 below). For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions, the term Microsoft, when used with reference to a legal entity, shall mean Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. and include its Affiliates. An 'Affiliate' means any legal entity owned or controlled by Microsoft, which owns or controls Microsoft or which is under common ownership or control with Microsoft. The term 'ownership' means more than 50% direct or indirect ownership/shareholding and the term 'control' means direct or indirect control of the management or the board of directors.

THE CONTEST AND THE TERM

"Contest"

("Project")

The Event shall run from 15th April 2008 to 31st May 2008. Microsoft can curtail or extend the Event duration, as it deems necessary.
The Event shall be held in India only.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

All undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma and training students ("Participant") studying in any private or government colleges, universities or training institutes in India ("Institute"), including foreign students shall be eligible to participate in the Contest. The Participant(s) shall constitute a project team comprising of minimum 1 (one) Participant and maximum 3 (three) Participants ("Project Team"). The Project Team shall be under the supervision and guidance of faculty research supervisor ("Supervisor") of the Institute who shall provide the Participant(s) with assistance for the development of the Project proposal.
An employee, agent or a relative of an employee of Microsoft, or its parent company Microsoft Corporation, USA shall not be eligible to participate in the Contest.
Participant(s) and Supervisor must ensure that his/her participation in the Contest is lawful and is in accordance with the applicable laws.
Each Supervisor participating in the Contest must ensure that he/she is entitled to receive Supervisor Benefit (as defined hereinafter) to be determined in accordance with paragraph G 3 below.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENT

For participating in the Contest and for development of the Project proposal, the Participant(s) should highlight research ideas that make use of Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 ("Windows CCS") requiring x64 based hardware (Intel or AMD).
A list of supported applications and details on the system requirement can be obtained from www.microsoft.com/hpc.

PARTICIPATION PROCESS

Any number of Project Teams from an Institute can participate in the Contest. However, each Project Team must be registered online by the Supervisor at the website www.microsoft.com/india/hpcacad to enable the Participant(s) to participate in the Contest. At the time of registration, the Supervisor should provide with the details of the Participant(s) along with details of the Project idea.
The process of registration of the Abstract and submission of the Project proposal should be completed by the Supervisor by June 15, 2008. Microsoft shall not be responsible for any transit loss of entry forms. An incomplete on-line registration shall be rejected. No participation or other fee is required to be paid for participating in the Contest.
The Supervisor supervising the Project Team should procure a minimum of 5 Windows CCS licenses by May 31, 2008.
The Supervisor and the Participant(s) agree to provide Microsoft with current, complete and accurate information. An incomplete form shall be rejected.
Microsoft reserves the right to reject any entry form without assigning any reason thereof. Any decision taken in this regard shall be final and binding and not subject to any dispute or challenge.
The Participant(s) and the Supervisor hereby waive all rights and grant to Microsoft, a royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual worldwide license to use and distribute the information contained in the form and, or, any submissions made in response to the Contest, in any and all media and in any publication whether online, offline or on the Internet.
Microsoft does not make any commitment, express or implied, to respond to any feedback, suggestion and, or, queries of the Participant(s) or furnish reasons for inclusion and, or, exclusion of any Participant(s) at any stage of the Contest.
Microsoft may assign any or all of its rights under these Terms and Conditions to its Affiliates without consent of the Participant(s) or the Supervisor.

CONDUCT OF PARTICIPANT(S)

Participation in the Contest shall be construed as an acceptance of the Terms and Conditions stipulated herein. Any breach or default by a Participant of any of the Terms and Conditions herein shall result in immediate disqualification without notice.
The Microsoft officials engaged in the organization and management of the Contest, including its directors, officers, partners, employees, consultants and agents are under no obligation to render any advice or service to Participant(s) in respect of the Contest.
Any attempt by Participant(s) to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest is a violation of Criminal and Civil Laws and should such an attempt be made, Microsoft reserves the right to seek damages from any such Participant to the fullest extent permitted by law.

SELECTION AND PARTICIPATION BENEFITS

The winners of the Contest shall be announced by July 31st 2008.
Participant(s) of the Project Team who win the Contest ("Student Winner") shall be awarded with a cash of Indian Rupees equivalent of US $1000 (US Dollars one thousand only) ("Student Benefit") which can be shared by maximum 3 (three) Participant(s) depending upon the number of Participants per Project Team.
The Supervisor supervising the winning Project Team ("Supervisor Winner") shall be awarded the following:
1. faculty grant of Indian Rupees equivalent of US $5,000 (US Dollars five thousand only) as a faculty research grant ("Supervisor Benefit")
2. Up to 25 software licenses for top proposals selected by Microsoft
The Student Benefit shall be awarded to the Participant(s) involved in up to 10 (ten) Project proposals selected to be among the top; and the Supervisor Benefit shall be awarded to Supervisor supervising up to top 5 (five) Project proposals which shall be selected by the panel of experts from Microsoft, academia and industry, as selected by Microsoft. The decision by Microsoft in regard to Student Winner and Supervisor Winner shall be final and binding and no correspondence or communication shall be entertained in this regard.
Microsoft or its Affiliates shall be entitled to use, in any manner, the name, photographs and other details of the Student Winner and the Supervisor Winner or any other Participant(s), likeness and status in any publication. By participating in the Contest, all Participants hereby agree to the same. Microsoft may, at its discretion, choose not to disclose the identity of the Student Winner and the Supervisor Winner to any other Participant.

BENEFIT CONDITIONS

The Student Benefit and Supervisor Benefit shall neither be transferable nor exchangeable for cash or otherwise.
Taxes and other levies imposed by any relevant applicable government or tax authority that may be levied or incurred on the Student Benefit and Faculty Benefit shall be fully borne by the respective Student Winner and Supervisor Winner.

DEPLOYMENT BENEFITS

All qualified entries received which utilize the procured Windows CCS licenses to deploy a 5 node or larger HPC cluster by Aug 31st, 2008 shall become part of the Microsoft High Performance Computing Research Circle which will provide the following benefits post deployment:

The faculty will become part of the Microsoft High Performance Computing Research Circle.
Free visit and 1-day training on Windows CCS for the faculty or his nominee at the institute at the Microsoft Interoperability lab in Bangalore.
A case study of the Faculty’s usage of HPC in his proposed area of research will be published on the Microsoft evidence website, along with testimonials and features published in leading print and online media.

PARTNER INCENTIVES

All Microsoft partners that fulfill the Windows CCS licenses to eligible customers under this program shall be entitled to the following incentives:

US $5 per node deployment fund for each Windows CCS server licensed under this program by May 31st 2008.
XBOX 360 for the top 3 partner sales representatives who sell the maximum number of licenses under this program by May 31st 2008.

DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

Subject to any applicable law:

All warranties of any kind whatsoever, whether express or implied, are hereby expressly disclaimed by Microsoft including, but not limited to, meeting of the Participant(s) and Supervisor's requirements or aspirations, timeliness, security, the results or reliability of any Contest, or the delivery, quality, or non infringement in respect of any services, benefits or awards acquired or obtained through the Contest or any transactions effected through the Contest.
The Participant(s) and Supervisor expressly agree that their participation in the Contest offered by Microsoft is at their sole risk and is governed by the Terms and Conditions contained herein.
Microsoft shall not provide third party software or applications that may be needed for the Project proposals which may include compilers, graphing tools, application porting, etc. Procuring the same is the responsibility of the Supervisor supervising the Project Team.
Any performance tuning, troubleshooting or benchmarking on the cluster will not be undertaken by Microsoft.
No advice or information whether by representations, oral, written or pictorial derived from the website or through the Contest shall be construed to mean the giving of any warranty of any kind by Microsoft.
Participation or selection in the Contest or winning the Student Benefit and Supervisor Benefit shall not be construed as an offer of employment with Microsoft.

COPYRIGHT

Nothing in the Contest shall affect any intellectual property rights of Microsoft in any product or service, which may be the subject matter of the Contest.

APPLICABLE LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

INDEMNIFICATION

MODIFICATION OR WITHDRAWAL OF CONTEST

In addition to these Terms and Conditions, other specific terms may be imposed by Microsoft any time to deal with any unforeseen situation. Microsoft also reserves the absolute right to change the Terms and Conditions contained herein and, or, any other rules and regulations in respect of the Contest at any time without any notice, without assigning any reason and without any liability whatsoever. Participant(s) and Supervisor are requested to refer to such other terms and conditions, if any, which may be displayed on-line or intimated separately as Microsoft considers fit. However, no obligation is cast on Microsoft to separately intimate each individual Participant and the Supervisor with regard to such additional terms and conditions.
Microsoft also reserves the right to withdraw the Contest at any stage without any liability whatsoever to the Participant(s) and the Supervisor, or, anyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have any questions about the Scholar vs. Scholar 2008 contest, the registration form or the research proposal, feel free to call Shruti at
+91 11 41622102. You can also email us at hpcacad@microsoft.com

1.

How do I participate?

(i)	Find a research area/problem to be addressed that requires high performance computing to solve.
(ii)	Make a team of up to 3 students and identify a faculty research advisor at your institute.
(iii)	Register by submitting this enrollment form and a 1-2 page research proposal before June 15, 2008 to hpcacad@microsoft.com.
(iv)	Have your faculty advisor or institute procure a minimum of 5 Windows CCS licenses before June 15, 2008

2.

What should the research proposal look like?

The submitted proposal should be 1-2 pages long and highlight the following:
(i)	research problem description
(ii)	proposed solution
(iii)	why does solution require supercomputers (HPC)
(iv)	technical details (software applications to be used, hardware to be deployed etc)
(v)	past history of work in the same research area/problem

3.

Are there any proposal examples?

Click here see winning proposals from 2007

4.

What are the costs involved in setting up a Windows CCS HPC cluster?

The costs involved in setting up an N-node Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 may include:
(i)	Hardware: Windows CCS runs on 64-bit hardware (Intel/AMD x64). You will need 1 server per node and may use existing servers in your lab or institute, or procure new ones.
(ii)	Software OS: There is special pricing for Windows CCS that is applicable to all academic institutions which is considerably lower than the regular pricing. If you would like to have a Microsoft reseller get in touch with you to provide more details on procurement and pricing of Windows CCS licenses, please email us by clicking here.
(iii)	Software Applications: Depending on your project, you may use commercial or open source applications for your research. Commercial applications will incur license costs and open source applications may involve support costs.

5.

How do I procure Windows CCS licenses?

Once you have registered by submitting your enrolment form, a Microsoft reseller will contact you for procurement of Windows CCS licenses. Alternatively, you may request a Microsoft reseller to get in touch with you to provide more details on procurement and pricing of Windows CCS licenses by clicking here.

6.

I’m not a student currently. May I participate?

The contest is only open to all current students, as defined below. There is no age limit.
“All undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma and training students studying in any private or government colleges, universities or training institutes in India, including foreign students shall be eligible to participate in the Contest.”
For detailed information on eligibility and participation, please visit the Terms & Conditions section on the program website by clicking here.

Research proposal tips

Want to know what a winning research proposal looks like?
Watch this video for excellent tips for writing that winning research proposal.

Your research proposal should contain:

The submitted proposal should consist of 1-2 pages and highlight the following:
1. Research problem description.
2. Proposed solution and relevance of supercomputing (HPC).
3. Technical details (software applications to be used, hardware to be deployed etc.).
4. Project team, including students and faculty advisor.

Last year's winning research proposals

Useful Resources

Check out these links for in-depth information on HPC:

http://www.microsoft.com/india/hpc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_performance_computing

http://www.seti.org (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml(The Human Genome Project)

http://www.intel.com/cd/software/products/asmo-na/eng/compilers/284527.htm

http://www.ansys.com

http://www.altair.com

http://windowshpc.net/Pages/Default.aspx

http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/The_HPC_Show

Judging Criteria

Relevance of the research for High Performance Computing (HPC), in terms of:

Need for HPC in the proposed research.
Availability of applications and tools in the proposed research area.

Quality of the submitted proposal, in terms of:

Detailed problem analysis.
Feasibility of proposed research solution.
Detailed technical solution on the Windows CCS platform.
Well defined scope, deliverables, timelines and success metrics.

Uniqueness of the topic/area of research.

Just Procure to win

Procure Windows Computer Cluster Server licenses before June 15, 2008 and avail the following:

Premium benefits:
Project team procuring licenses for 20-node cluster

One day training at the Microsoft Interoperability Lab in Bangalore
+
The benefits offered under advanced and basic levels.

Advanced benefits:
Project Team procuring licenses for 10-node cluster

Direct entry into the Microsoft High Performance Computing Research Circle
+
The benefits offered under the basic level.

Basic benefits:
Project Team procuring licenses for 5-node cluster

A special copy of Do-it-Yourself Guide for Windows Compute Cluster HPC.
A rare opportunity to highlight your project on the Microsoft evidence Web site, and also feature the project in learning print and online media.