Sun Collaborates For Three Main Reasons

1. To define and create the future of computer and information technology.
   
2. To transform key university research outcomes into future products and competitive advantages for Sun.
   
3. To recruit and hire the best students; to encourage faculty sabbaticals; and student internships at Sun.

What technology collaborations Are of Interest to Sun?

Sun is interested in ideas and technologies that will have commercial importance in two to five years and will help provide direction to Sun engineering and product groups.

Current areas of interest include Java[tm] technology, Security, Internet, Networking, Software Management & Quality, High Performance Computing, Compilers, Multimedia, Communication, Computer Architecture, and OpenSPARC or OpenSolaris.

We are also interested in learning about interesting technologies we might be missing.

Here is a sample of successful collaborations:

University of California-Los Angeles ~ Embedded Network Sensing
Carnegie Mellon University ~ CMU Parallel Data Consortium
Massachusetts Institute of Technology ~ Kerberos
Virginia Tech ~ Attribute Certificates and Grid Computing
University of British Columbia, Vancouver ~ Self-timed Circuits in Synchronous Processors
University of Michigan ~ NFS for Linux
North Carolina State University ~ Java Based Self Organizing Media
Seoul National University, Korea ~ Instruction Scheduling for ULTRASPARC
University of California, Santa Barbara ~ Quantum Logic Operation
Bologna, Italy ~ Power Estimation for Advanced Microprocessors
Melbourne, Australia ~ Economic Based Brokering and Scheduling Grid Technology
Uppsala, Sweden ~ HPC Efficiency on Parallel Processors

Who Do We Collaborate With?

Sun collaborates with faculty, research directors, and principal investigators at universities, national labs and nonprofit research organizations.

Graduate Students and Undergraduates should discuss any collaboration ideas with their faculty advisor. The faculty advisor should communicate directly with Sun.

Students interested in employment or an internship should contact Sun's College Recruiting Group.

Do We Have a Proposal Format?
~ Universities and Labs

No. Please complete the Abstract submission form, there is space for a short abstract of your idea for collaboration.

What is the Process?

When your inquiry is received it is sent to relevant engineering groups, if it is an area of current interest to Sun. If an engineer has an interest in the research, discussions occur to determine areas of mutual interest.

After an area of interest is found, the project is defined using a template which will also serve as the agreement on the collaboration. The template includes a timeline for the shared deliverables and a definition of resources to be applied to the collaboration.

You and the Sun Technical Sponsor are responsible for the implementation and success of the project. The External Research Office will monitor the project, handle the administrative details, help resolve any issues which arise, and help share the results of the project with Sun and other research communities.

Submitting a Research Idea

Faculty and research directors who have an idea for collaboration should complete the Research Idea submission form.

Thank you for your interest in Sun.