The International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI), under the auspices of UNESCO, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have opened applications for the 2026 Compute for Climate Fellowship.

The global fellowship is designed to support climate and clean-energy technology startups that are using advanced cloud computing and artificial intelligence to develop innovative solutions to climate change and accelerate the transition to clean energy.

Selected startups will receive AWS cloud computing credits, technical support, scientific guidance and mentorship to develop a proof of concept (PoC) for their technology.

What the Fellowship Offers

Selected companies can benefit from:

• Up to $200,000 in AWS credits to cover cloud computing costs associated with developing their proof of concept.
• Approximately three months of PoC development with personalized technical support and mentorship.
• Access to advanced computing technologies, including high-performance computing (HPC), generative AI and quantum computing tools.
• Expert guidance from IRCAI and AWS mentors in areas such as AI, advanced computing, sustainability and responsible technology.
• Opportunities for international visibility, media exposure and speaking engagements.
• Opportunities to showcase project results through AWS channels, United Nations events and other international organizations.

Areas of Focus for 2026

The 2026 fellowship is seeking innovative proposals with the potential for significant global impact across seven climate and energy solution areas:

1. Clean Energy, Grid Flexibility and Fusion/Nuclear Simulation

Projects may focus on renewable-energy forecasting, energy storage, virtual power plants, demand response, grid optimization, hydrogen systems, energy-market simulation, geothermal modelling, nuclear and fusion simulation, and other clean-energy technologies.

2. Climate Intelligence, Earth Observation and Risk Analytics

This includes technologies for climate and weather modelling, Earth observation, geospatial AI, greenhouse-gas monitoring, methane detection, climate-risk assessment, biodiversity monitoring and early-warning systems for hazards such as floods, wildfires, droughts and extreme heat.

3. Sustainable Agriculture, Food Systems and Water Security

The fellowship is interested in solutions involving precision agriculture, crop-risk prediction, drought resilience, alternative proteins, vertical farming, water-treatment optimization, autonomous farming, food-loss prevention and climate-smart supply chains.

4. Circular Economy, Industrial Simulation and Low-Carbon Materials

Eligible innovations can include low-carbon industrial processes, materials discovery, manufacturing optimization, industrial digital twins, critical-mineral traceability, waste-to-value solutions and robotics simulation.

5. Carbon Removal and Ecosystem Restoration

This area covers technologies for carbon removal, carbon storage and ecosystem restoration, including direct air capture, biochar, blue carbon, carbon-capture simulation and automated measurement, reporting and verification (MRV).

6. Low-Carbon Transportation, Logistics and Autonomous Systems

Potential applications include electric-vehicle battery modelling, charging optimization, fleet electrification, autonomous-vehicle simulation, logistics optimization, low-carbon aviation and maritime fuels, and intelligent transportation systems.

7. Sustainable Built Environment and Data Centre Infrastructure

Projects may address data-centre cooling, energy and water efficiency, waste-heat recovery, carbon-aware computing, building-energy optimization, thermal digital twins, HVAC simulation and climate-resilient infrastructure.

Special Focus on Extreme Heat

For the 2026 fellowship, extreme heat is highlighted as a special area of interest.

The organizers are particularly interested in technologies that use advanced computing and AI to anticipate heat-related risks, protect vulnerable communities, improve energy and infrastructure resilience, and support climate adaptation.

Community-led and Indigenous-led approaches are also encouraged across all seven solution areas, particularly projects that combine advanced technology with local knowledge and lived experience.

Technology Areas of Interest

Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate innovative use of advanced computing and frontier AI technologies. Areas of interest include:

• Artificial intelligence, machine learning and generative AI
• Foundation and domain-specific models
• Physical AI, robotics and autonomous systems
• High-performance computing and GPU-accelerated computing
• Physics-informed machine learning and scientific machine learning
• Climate and weather modelling
• Earth observation and geospatial AI
• Digital twins
• Quantum and quantum-inspired optimization
• Large-scale optimization
• Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing and real-time monitoring
• Automated emissions and carbon-removal measurement, reporting and verification
• Secure, interoperable and privacy-preserving climate data infrastructure

The fellowship also emphasizes responsible AI and sustainable computing. Applicants should explain why advanced computing and frontier AI are essential to their proposed proof of concept and demonstrate responsible practices such as model efficiency, explainability, bias testing and sustainability-aware computing.

Who Can Apply?

The program is open to privately held climate and energy technology companies from any country.

Applicants should generally meet the following criteria:

• The company was founded within the last 10 years.
• The company is developing climate or clean-energy technology with potential global impact.
• The company is up to Series A.
• The company has a technical team capable of developing a proof of concept using advanced cloud computing and AI/ML.

Startups that previously applied but were not selected may submit a new application for the 2026 program.

Fellowship Timeline

The 2026–2027 fellowship follows this schedule:

• 1– 30 September 2026: Applications open
• 1 October–23 November 2026: Application review and finalist interviews
• 4 December 2026: Winners announced
• 11 January–5 April 2027: Proof-of-concept development
• 14 April 2027: Demo Day

Additional AWS Credits for Unselected Startups

Startups that are not selected for the fellowship may still be eligible to apply for $5,000 in AWS Credits, subject to the program’s eligibility requirements.

Among the stated requirements are that the startup has not previously received AWS Activate credits of equal or greater value, is self-funded up to Series A or pre-Series B, has a functioning company website, and was founded within the last 10 years.

Intellectual Property

Startups selected for the fellowship remain the owners of the intellectual property resulting from their proof of concept.

The startups are responsible for building their PoC. IRCAI scientific mentors and AWS technical experts provide advice and guidance on the design and development rather than building the PoC themselves.

How to Apply

Applications for the IRCAI & AWS Compute for Climate Fellowship 2026 are open from 1 September to 30 September 2026.

Interested climate-tech and clean-energy startups should review the official fellowship requirements and submit their application through IRCAI.