The IBM Shared University Research (SUR) Awards is a worldwide equipment award program designed to promote research in areas of mutual value and interest to IBM and universities. Nominations for these awards must be initiated by someone within IBM.

About the program

The SUR Awards program strives to connect the research and researchers at universities with personnel in IBM: in organizations such as IBM Research, IBM Life Sciences, IBM Global Services and our development and product labs. This program is not aimed at supporting a single individual or research project. Rather, the intent is to support and have an impact in an area of significant interest to the university and IBM.

The SUR Awards program is designed to:

• Promote collaborative research projects that bring value to IBM, the technology community, and our world.
• Increase access to IBM technologies for research and in curriculum.
• Provide opportunities within IBM for undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. students.

For more information, see our frequently asked questions.

Nomination process

IBM does not accept unsolicited requests for SUR awards. All requests must be submitted through IBM employees who interact with faculty members or the institution, in most cases on a technical basis. IBM provides a limited number of SUR awards each year, at its discretion. No guarantee of award, implied or otherwise, is made by IBM. All proposals are generated by IBM personnel in collaboration with their university counterparts. Proposals are evaluated through a multi-stage process.