Sony – Focused Research Award (2026)

Up to $150,000 for Collaborative Technology and Entertainment Research

Sony’s Focused Research Award supports university faculty and eligible researchers conducting advanced research aligned with Sony’s immediate technology and entertainment priorities.

Selected projects may receive up to $150,000 for an initial one-year research period. Successful projects may be considered for renewal through a separate award and agreement.

Organization: Sony Group Corporation
Support Type: Sponsored research award
Maximum Award: Up to $150,000
Project Period: One year
Application Deadline: September 15, 2026
Geographic Focus: The United States, Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and eligible European countries

About the Funder

Sony is a global technology and entertainment company working across gaming, music, film, electronics, imaging, sensing, and emerging digital technologies.

Through the Sony Research Award Program, the company partners with universities and research institutes to explore technologies that may contribute to future products, creative tools, entertainment experiences, and business applications.

A previous relationship with Sony is not required.

2026 Focused Research Themes

Applicants must submit their proposal under one of Sony’s designated research themes.

Internal Mechanisms of Multimodal Generative Models

Research examining how language, image, audio, music, speech, and video-generation models operate internally, including:

• Mechanistic interpretability
• Causal attribution
• Source and provenance representation
• Style and identity representation
• Cross-modal grounding
• Knowledge externalization
• Model editing and controllability
• Transparent opt-in and opt-out systems for data usage

Anime-Style Expression Exaggeration

Research focused on learning artistic deformation conventions from anime and stylized animation data.

Potential topics include:

• Mapping human performance to exaggerated animation
• Character-specific and style-specific expression models
• Integration with 2D and 3D character rigs
• Generation of tears, sweat drops, blush marks, and other visual conventions
• Animator usability and style-faithfulness evaluation

Knowledge Representation and Graph-Based Modeling

Research using ontologies and knowledge-representation methods to improve:

• User and content profiles
• Personalized recommendations
• Interaction graphs
• Explainability
• Hidden relationship discovery
• Knowledge consistency
• Cross-domain knowledge reuse

Psychology-Informed Streaming Experiences

Research that goes beyond behavioral metrics to understand why users engage with content.

Topics may include:

• User values, needs, and motivations
• Psychology-informed content modeling
• Audience and taste analysis
• Interpretable insights for creators and marketers
• Messaging and content interventions
• Evaluation of short- and long-term behavior change

Post-Training of Speech Language Models for Anime

Research adapting speech models for anime and entertainment applications, including:

• Culturally aware translation
• Production-quality localization
• Expressive voice generation
• Character-based conversational systems
• Controllable speech models
• Automated annotation for post-training

Innovative Visual Technology Powered by AI

Research advancing image, video, and visual-content technologies across 2D, 3D, and 4D applications.

Topics may include:

• Image-to-video and video-to-video generation
• Neural rendering
• Vision-language models
• Physical AI
• 3D and 4D reconstruction
• Gaussian splatting
• World models
• Explainable and controllable visual AI

Digital Humans for Sports Science and Entertainment

Research using AI-generated digital human models for:

• Biomechanics and athlete performance
• Coaching and training
• Injury prevention
• Sports diagnostics
• Photorealistic athlete reconstruction
• Immersive replays
• Fan engagement
• Real-time or near-real-time 3D and 4D sports visualization

Provenance for AI-Generated Derivative Content

Research developing systems that verify the origin and transformation history of AI-generated media.

Topics may include:

• Provenance graphs
• Cryptographic verification
• Digital signatures and zero-knowledge proofs
• Watermarking and fingerprinting
• Attribution across multiple source assets
• Copyright and royalty tracking
• Privacy-preserving verification
• Misinformation detection

Long-Term Memory for Game Video Understanding

Research enabling AI systems to understand extended gameplay sessions.

Potential areas include:

• Persistent world-state tracking
• Inventory and objective monitoring
• Long-term memory architectures
• Retrieval and memory compression
• Gameplay hypothesis formation
• Reinforcement-learning-based memory management
• Autonomous agents
• Glitch detection and game-development tools

Cloud Creation Everywhere

Research using cloud technology to connect physical locations, virtual spaces, creativity, gaming, and social interaction.

Potential areas include:

• Mobile and location-based creative experiences
• Real-world digital expressions
• Asynchronous social interaction
• Peer-to-peer virtual spaces
• Cloud-connected devices
• Social media interoperability
• Augmented and virtual reality

Multimodal Interaction Across Devices

Research developing an intermediate interaction layer that translates user intent across diverse devices and environments.

Topics may include:

• Gaze, voice, gesture, and biometric inputs
• Unified command systems
• Adaptive visual, audio, and haptic feedback
• Translation of nonverbal communication
• Games and extended-reality applications
• Remote communication platforms

Eligible Applicants

The Principal Investigator must:

• Hold a full-time faculty or researcher position
• Be affiliated with an eligible university, educational institution, or governmental or nonprofit research institute
• Be authorized to supervise Ph.D. students

Eligible positions may include full, associate, and assistant professors, as well as qualifying full-time researchers and eligible lecturers in the United Kingdom.

Adjunct professors, adjunct researchers, and professors emeriti are not eligible.

Co-Principal Investigators are permitted but must be affiliated with the same institution and meet the same eligibility requirements as the Principal Investigator.

Funding Amount

Sony provides:

Up to $150,000 for a one-year project

Funding is issued through a sponsored research agreement and may cover:

• Research personnel
• Ph.D. student support
• Equipment and supplies
• Direct research expenses
• Institutional overhead and indirect costs

All costs must fit within the $150,000 maximum.

Projects may be considered for renewal, but applicants should submit only a one-year proposal. Any continuation requires a separate award and agreement.

Proposal Requirements

Applications must include:

• Project title and abstract
• Research methods
• Goals and milestones
• References
• One selected Focused Research Theme
• Explanation of how the project advances beyond the current state of the art
• Principal Investigator contact information
• One-page budget summary

Applicants are encouraged to describe potential applications within Sony’s technology, entertainment, gaming, content, or creator ecosystems.

Proposal Format

The submission may not exceed 11 pages:

• Up to 10 pages for the proposal, including references
• One page for the budget

The proposal must be:

• Written in English
• Submitted as a PDF
• Smaller than 16 MB
• Prepared using a minimum font size of approximately 10 points

The Principal Investigator’s CV must be uploaded separately.

Research Agreement and Intellectual Property

This is a sponsored research opportunity rather than an unrestricted charitable grant.

Selected institutions must enter into an agreement with Sony covering:

• Research objectives and milestones
• Publications
• Research results
• Patent rights
• Intellectual property

Applicants should consult their sponsored research or technology-transfer office before submitting.

Proposals should not include confidential or proprietary information because Sony treats submitted materials as non-confidential.

Timeline

📅 Application Opens: July 15, 2026
📅 Application Deadline: September 15, 2026
⏰ Deadline Time: 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
📅 Expected Notification: Around March 2027
📅 Project Period: One year

Application Process

Applications must be submitted through Sony’s online proposal system. Email applications are not accepted.

Applicants should retain their confirmation email because it includes proof of submission and a link for correcting or resubmitting the proposal before the deadline.

Apply / Learn More

➡️ Review the 2026 Sony Focused Research Award

Why This Opportunity Is a Good Fit

This award may be a strong fit for:

• University faculty conducting advanced technology research
• Governmental and nonprofit research institutes
• Researchers working in generative AI, speech, animation, gaming, visual computing, sports technology, knowledge graphs, or human-computer interaction
• Institutions seeking collaboration with a global technology and entertainment company
• Applicants whose work closely matches one of Sony’s defined research themes

Corporate Grants Guide Notes

Review Type: Competitive international research award
Maximum Funding: Up to $150,000
Project Period: One year
Renewal Potential: Possible through a separate award
Prior Sony Relationship Required: No
Best Suited For: Eligible faculty and full-time researchers whose work closely matches a Sony research theme
Key Consideration: The institution must be prepared to negotiate sponsored research and intellectual property terms

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