National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institutes; Group 2: Theme 2 AI for Discovery in Materials Research and Theme 3: Strengthening AI (NSF 23-610)
Sponsor: NSFInternal Deadline: 10/12/2023Institutional Submission Limit: 2Sponsor Deadline: 01/12/2024Program Website
Building upon the nationwide network of AI Research Institutes, this National AI Research Institutes program solicitation will fund Institutes comprised of scientists, engineers, and educators united by a common focus on advancing the research frontiers in AI. The program seeks to build a broader nationwide network to pursue transformational advances in a range of economic sectors, and science and engineering fields. AI Research Institutes will have as their primary focus the advancement of multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder research on larger-scale, longer-time-horizon challenges in AI research than are supported in typical research grants. They will accelerate the development of transformational technologies by grounding that research in critical application sectors that can serve as motivation for foundational research advances and provide opportunities for the effective fielding of AI-powered innovation.
Theme 2: AI for Discovery in Materials Research
AI has the potential to revolutionize materials discovery by integrating first principles from materials science, physics, and chemistry with heterogenous multi-dimensional experimental and synthetic data streams to scale and accelerate development. AI can expand the types and properties of materials considered through augmentation of human intuition and by tailoring discoveries to address societal challenges, such as sustainability and those in emerging industries. A successful Materials AI Institute will transform the materials discovery landscape, enable new AI-based capabilities, and be responsive to societal challenges and industrial needs. See solicitation for ideas/examples.
Theme 3: Strengthening AI
This theme promotes the development of next generation AI systems that have been strengthened to provide greater usefulness, consistency, and robustness by exhibiting both the high performance of narrow AI and the general adaptability of strong AI. Proposals must address the [solicitation] goals, taking into account the full context of the motivation described [in the solicitation], while remaining relevant to the contemporaneous, rapid progress in the fielding of large, capable AI models. Institutes funded under this theme must lead advances in theory, methods, or integrative approaches that strengthen AI in all three of the goals: Grounding, Instructiblity, and Alignment.
Submission of Preliminary Proposals for Group 2 – Theme 2: AI for Discovery in Materials Research and Theme 3: Strengthening AI is required by 5pm January 12, 2024. Please see the full text of the solicitation for further information. Full Proposal Deadline is 5 p.m. May 17, 2024
Please see the solicitation for specifics related to scope, submission groups and themes.
Submission Process
Limited submissions MUST be coordinated with the Office of the Vice President for Research.
If interested in applying for this opportunity, email the following to Julie Morris at jmorris@sc.edu by the INTERNAL DEADLINE above:
1) Cover page listing:
• Title (as required in solicitation: The title of the proposal must be preceded by "Theme n: ", where n is the theme number that is the primary theme to which you are submitting. The title should describe the project in concise, informative language that is understandable to a technically-literate reader.
• Name of PI and department
• If applicable, Name(s) and departments (or Participating Organizations) of up to four co-PIs/Other Senior Project Personnel
2) Abstract/Project summary (max 2 pages) includes an overview of the Institute vision and rationale/ intellectual merit of the proposed activity, its research objectives, and broader impacts, as well as an overview of the anticipated organizations comprising the Institute and their relationships to one another and personnel / key contributors to the Institute's prospective research activities with their role and research focus.
3) a 2-3 page CV/biosketch for the PI (SCiENcv preferred)