We invite proposals in the following broad areas:
1. ML applications on edge devices: Proposals that envision new applications and scenarios that are enabled by machine learning models with tiny footprint that can run on IoT devices, sensors and resource-constrained platforms. Platforms of interest include those that use ARM Cortex M-series microcontrollers (e.g. Arduino board) and the lower end of ARM Cortex A-series processors (e.g. Raspberry). The proposal can come from any application domain, including healthcare, industrial, speech, security, user analytics, sensor fusion, intrusion detection, but should aim to develop ML models to be deployed on resource-constrained devices. Preference would be given to proposals that aim to build a complete prototype and are able to provide data sets that have been shown to be useful in traditional (non-resource-constrained) settings.
Example 1: Gesture or activity recognition using accelerometer data
Example 2: Wake word or audio command detection
Example 3: Predicting upcoming downtime in factories using sensor data
Example 4: Sensors on sporting equipment to analyze game in real-time
Example 5: Wearable diagnostic devices/implements/monitors that don’t rely on labs
Example 6: Real-time intrusion detection in network hardware
Example 7: Spotting endangered species with stand-alone sensors deployed in the wild
Example 8: Predicting pollution levels based on traffic conditions
2. New algorithmic tools: Proposals that aim to build the state of the art algorithms that help derive small machine learning models. These can include: (a) new formulations for specific tasks (e.g. early warning in time-series data), (b) new neural networks formulations (e.g. compact cells with lesser state), (c) new techniques for training and compressing sparse models, (d) new computational frameworks relevant to the resource-constrained setting.
3. Software tools: Many embedded systems lack capabilities common in desktops, e.g., multi-threading, floating point arithmetic, security features. Proposal are invited for developing new software platforms and tools that solve these problems and allow easy deployment of machine learning pipelines in IoT devices. These can include (a) light weight operating systems, (b) compilers that can reason about precision and target new architectures, (c) software security features. Preference would be given to proposals that aim to build artefacts that drastically improve programming productivity on resource-constrained devices.
Resources from Microsoft: Microsoft Research (MSR) has expertise and active research agenda in this space and will act as advisors. We have existing machine learning algorithms/libraries for this setting available to the public (https://github.com/Microsoft/Edgeml), and we will work with the selected proposals to adapt and apply these algorithms/tools.
Further, MSR India will also provide resources including computing infrastructure, sensors and hardware, and logistic support from summer school student participants. Researchers and engineers from Microsoft will actively be involved in the research as well as the development aspects of each selected proposal.
Participation requirements: Each proposal can have one principal proposer and other co-proposers. We require that at least one of the proposers for each selected proposal is present in MSR India’s office in Bangalore for the duration of the workshop (it is OK to have two proposers who will spend two weeks each). Proposers are welcome to nominate students / team members as part of their proposal (see details below).
All proposers, students and team members selected for the workshop are expected to spend the majority of the time on the proposals during the summer workshop, since this is intended to be an intense 4-week effort leading to publishable work and/or significant progress in developing a prototype.
Intellectual Property (IP) : We require academic participants to release project artefacts with a liberal license and publish the findings in peer-reviewed conference. For proposals from start-ups and other industry participants, IP related aspects will be discussed and resolved to mutual satisfaction on a case-to-case basis.
Proposal Submission Guidelines
The submitted proposal should contain the following:
1. A precise problem statement including relevance for the resource-constrained or IoT setting.
2. Potential impact and/or business case for the problem.
3. Details about
a. resource constraints in terms of power, latency, memory, compute, bandwidth
b. the machine learning problem formulation (ranking/regression/anomaly detection)
c. sensors involved
d. relevant datasets and computing resources required.
4. Background on related work in the area.
5. An action plan for pre-summer workshop (e.g. acquiring and curating data), the 4-weeks of summer workshop, and post-summer school follow up (e.g. publishing results, releasing code) if necessary.
6. Details of faculty / students OR team members (for startups / industry) who will participate (e.g. CV and/or website), and requirements for extra help (desired skillsets).
7. For academic participants, a plan to publish results and release software and other outcomes of the summer school.
8. For industry and start-up participants, preliminary suggestions on handling IP (to be discussed and mutually agreed later).
The final proposal should be no more than 2500 words (excluding references and supplementary material) and is due by March 31st 2018. For abstracts received before February 28th 2018, Microsoft Research will provide feedback, which we hope will be useful while submitting the final proposal. A few shortlisted proposals will be requested to make a presentation in mid-April and the final decision on selected proposals for the workshop will be communicated by the end of April.
Ambitious proposals with actionable and concrete plans will be given priority in the final selection.
Selection Process
The submitted proposals along with the nominations for research students will be selected through a thorough evaluation and revision process by the Program Committee. In parallel, the Program / Organizing committee will also select students for the workshop through a different process and these students will be included with the shortlisted groups at the workshop.
Important dates:
Deadline for submitting proposals: March 31, 2018
Presentation by Shortlisted proposers : Mid-April 2018
Notification of selection of shortlisted teams: April 30, 2018
Summer Workshop: June 11- July 06, 2018
Who can participate and How?
Faculty/Post-Docs: We invite proposals from researchers affiliated with universities. Proposers of shortlisted proposals may be asked to present the proposal either in person in Bangalore or via Skype. Proposals can also have collaborators from industry/other academic institutions from India or abroad. Selected proposers should be willing to work with other proposers in the event of their proposals getting merged. Proposers can nominate up to TWO research students in their proposal. Proposers will also be encouraged to give lectures and tutorials in their areas of expertise during the workshop.
The Principal proposer of each selected project will receive an amount of INR 2 Lakhs as remuneration for the research efforts in the project. This amount is also expected to cover the travel of the proposer to/from Bangalore, for meals outside of those provided during the workshop and other incidental expenses. Proposers will have to make their own travel arrangements. For the duration of the workshop, Microsoft Research will provide accommodation with breakfast, and meals during working hours. The amount of INR 2 Lakhs will be paid as an Unrestricted Research Grant to the institution that the proposer is affiliated with (note: we will not make individual payments to proposers).
Start-ups and Industry players: We invite proposals from Start-ups and industry players, with an identified Principal proposer. The proposer can also nominate up to TWO other team members for the workshop. Proposers will also be encouraged to give lectures and tutorials in their areas of expertise during the workshop. The Principal proposer of each selected project will receive an amount of INR 2 Lakhs as remuneration for the research efforts in the project. This amount is also expected to cover travel to/from Bangalore, meals outside of those provided during the workshop and other incidental expenses. The proposer(s) will have to make their own travel arrangements. For the duration of the workshop, Microsoft Research will provide accommodation with breakfast, and meals during working hours. The amount of INR 2 Lakhs will be paid as a Research Grant to the company entity that the principal proposer is affiliated with (note: we will not make individual payments to proposers).
Important:
a. The above remuneration will only be paid to the principal proposer. Collaborators, if any, will be provided with accommodation and meals during the workshop duration, as specified.
b. Each proposal is expected to work with 2-3 additional students nominated by Microsoft Research as part of their group during the workshop. These students will be independently selected by Microsoft Research via a separate process – we will work with leading academic institutions on a process of student nominations from Department Heads/Deans/Directors to select a group of students for the workshop. These students will then be assigned to selected propsals for the workshop.
Students: Students CANNOT apply directly to be part of the workshop. They need to be nominated by the proposer writing the proposal, or – for the students selected independently by Microsoft Research – by the Department Head / Dean / Director of their institution.
The students who are selected for the workshop will be provided with accommodation with breakfast, and meals during working hours for the duration of the workshop. For students from outside Bangalore, we will provide a travel allowance that should cover a large part of the estimated airfare (if booked well in advance), meals outside working hours and any other incidental expenses. They do not need to submit any bills or tickets to get the travel allowance. It will be a flat amount based on the city where their college is located. If they spend less than the allowance, they do not need to return the funds to us and if they spend more, we hope they can put in money from their own sources to cover the balance.
Team members from start-ups/industry: The team members who are nominated by the proposer will be provided with accommodation with breakfast, and meals during working hours for the duration of the workshop. For team members coming from outside Bangalore, we will provide a travel allowance that should cover a large part of the estimated airfare (if booked well in advance), meals outside working hours and any other incidental expenses. They do not need to submit any bills or tickets to get the travel allowance. It will be a flat amount based on the city where their company entity is located. If they spend less than the allowance, they do not need to return the funds to us and if they spend more, we hope they can put in money from their own sources to cover the balance.
The program committee will make the final decision on selection of proposals, students, team members, etc.
Computational Infrastructure
Garage style working spaces will be provided to each team in the Microsoft Research India premises. Team members are expected to work on their own laptops. However, we will provide Internet connection as well as Azure accounts to each team for running experiments. Access to certain Microsoft proprietary datasets and development environment could also be provided based on need and availability.
Best Project Award
At the end of the workshop, all the projects will make a presentation and there will be an evaluation done by an appropriate jury to choose ONE winning project. The winning project will be awarded a seed funding of INR 750,000/- from Microsoft Research India to continue further work on the project.
Based on their performance in the workshop, the students participating in the workshop will be evaluated for internship positions at MSR, if they are interested in this option.
Contact
For any queries on the proposal / eligibility, etc. please write to: msrsw2018@microsoft.com