Discovering the Future of AI Grant Program

General Information

Program Description

The Discovering the Future of AI grants program provides faculty with critical resources to pursue paradigm-shifting research and education in AI and its applications. The goal is to foster synergies that pair the latest advances in AI with novel applications across disciplines to unlock new frontiers of discovery. This call will provide funding for one year (see below for details) but proposals that lead to successful outcomes, especially ones with broader impact at Penn, will be eligible for additional funding in subsequent years. A key goal of this program is to foster genuine collaboration between AI experts and domain experts. We strongly encourage proposals from all disciplines and schools.

Proposals led jointly by two Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs) from different schools are particularly encouraged: one should be a core AI/ML faculty member, and the other a faculty expert in the relevant application domain. Proposals must be aligned with one or more of the strategic research thrusts of PennAI:

• AI Foundations: Understanding the fundamental principles behind existing AI algorithms and developing the next generation of AI algorithms.
• AI + Business: Exploring how AI will reshape industries, economies, and the future of work itself.
• AI + Education: Developing educational programs or innovative in-class teaching (undergraduate or graduate) that leverage AI tools to transform the educational experience and/or advance Penn’s leadership in AI education.
• AI + Health: Revolutionizing healthcare through AI-driven diagnostics, personalized medicine, computational biology, and optimization of clinical care.
• AI + Science: Applying AI to accelerate discovery in the natural sciences, from discovering new materials and modeling climate change to unraveling the mysteries of the human mind.
• AI + Society: Investigating the societal impact of AI, building trustworthy and ethical algorithms, or using AI to create new knowledge in the humanities and social sciences.

Examples of support include, but are not limited to:

• Funding for the development of novel AI models and experiments.
• Funding for acquiring or creating unique datasets necessary for transformative research.
• Funding for graduate students or postdoctoral fellows for complex data analysis and model development.
• Applied research that tackles real-world problems, or develops new products, technologies, or policies, especially research that incorporates community partnerships.
• Funding for the development of educational programs or innovative in-class teaching.

Limitation:

One (1) application per faculty member

Award Information:

An unrestricted research award of up to $200,000 for one (1) year. Awards are for direct costs only.

Eligibility:

• Appointment: The applicant must currently hold a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Educational Program: For any educational program or course, applicants must provide a course syllabus and a detailed explanation of how the AI educational funding will enhance the course, impact students, and advance Penn’s leadership in AI/ML education (please indicate whether the course is undergraduate or graduate).
• For any sponsored research projects, the applicant must be eligible to serve as Principal Investigator for the project, unless otherwise noted in this opportunity. Please see Penn’s PI Eligibility requirements to ensure you are eligible. 

Internal Selection Process:

• The Office of the Vice Provost for Research and the Penn AI Council invite Penn Faculty to submit one (1) application for consideration. Applications must include the following:
  1. Cover Page (InfoReady will autogenerate) including:
     • Candidate’s name, academic rank, department, email address, phone number, and campus address.
     • Project title
     • Project type
       • AI Research
       • AI Education
     • Research projects specify one of the following categories (refer to the Penn AI website for details at: https://ai.upenn.edu/ai-penn)
       • AI Foundations
       • AI + Business
       • AI + Education
       • AI + Health
       • AI + Society
       • AI + Science
  2. Abstract (maximum 1 page)
  3. Project description: (maximum 4 pages, not including references; single-spaced, 12-point font with one-inch margins)
     • All projects must identify a second audience outside of the academic community. Who are the primary and secondary audiences of this project, and how will the research or new educational methods benefit them?
  4. Brief Project Budget (maximum 1 page)
  5. Course syllabus: (Optional, if not relevant to proposal) Provide the course syllabus and/or a detailed explanation of how the AI educational funding will change the course, impact students, or broaden Penn as the leader in AI/ML education.
  6. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (maximum 2 pages)