Amazon AI for Information Security Research Awards: Spring 2026 Call for Proposals
Amazon Research Awards AI for Information Security Call for Proposals – Spring 2026 offers funding for cutting-edge projects. Researchers tackling tough security challenges with AI can apply now. This program from Amazon supports work that makes digital systems safer.
Program Goals
Amazon wants to solve key problems in information security through AI. The call focuses on agentic AI, which acts on its own in security tasks. Proposals must address real-world needs like detecting threats or fixing vulnerabilities.
Key Research Topics
Applicants should target these areas:
- Trustworthy AI agents for security operations, including ways to test them.
- Governance for AI agent access, such as policy checks and safe authentication.
- Detection of threats, intrusions, or anomalies in AI systems and cloud setups.
- AI tools for incident response and red-teaming exercises.
- AI for finding and fixing vulnerabilities.
- Ways to build better foundation models for security tasks through training methods.
- Security measures for AI systems, like protecting toolchains and handling delegated actions.
- Protections for generative AI, including data privacy and leak prevention.
- Reinforcement learning applied to security.
- Graph-based anomaly detection at scale.
- Learning from limited or noisy data.
- AI for malware analysis, especially in clouds or devices.
- AI help in writing secure code or improving old code.
- Generative AI for checking cloud compliance.
These topics guide proposals to advance practical AI security solutions.
Grant Details
Winning principal investigators get:
- Up to $80,000 USD in unrestricted funds on average.
- Up to $40,000 USD in AWS promotional credits on average.
- Training like AWS tutorials and sessions with Amazon experts.
Awards come as one-time gifts. Budgets list costs in USD without overhead. The panel sets the final amount.
Who Can Apply
Principal investigators must be:
- Full-time faculty at accredited schools.
- Or permanent researchers at qualified non-profits (like 501(c)(3) in the US).
They need to be adults in their area. Each person submits just one proposal per cycle.
How to Submit
The deadline is May 6, 2026. Start at the Amazon academic research portal. Check full details on the Amazon AI for Information Security page. Prepare a strong proposal that fits the topics and rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline for the Amazon AI for Information Security proposals?
The deadline is May 6, 2026. Submit through the Amazon academic research portal.
Who can apply as a principal investigator?
Full-time faculty at accredited schools or permanent researchers at qualified non-profits, like 501(c)(3) organizations in the US, can apply. Each person submits only one proposal per cycle.
What funding do winners receive?
Winners get up to $80,000 USD in unrestricted funds and up to $40,000 USD in AWS promotional credits on average, plus training opportunities.
What are the key research topics for proposals?
Topics include trustworthy AI agents, threat detection, vulnerability fixing, protections for generative AI, and more, all focused on real-world security challenges.