NSF National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institutes Accelerating Research, Transforming Society, and Growing the American Workforce

September 30, 2020

To:	Chairs and Administrators, Departments in the Biological, Physical and Social Sciences; Associate Deans for Research; College/School Research Administrators
From:	Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Education
Date:	September 30, 2020
Subject:	NSF National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institutes Accelerating Research, Transforming Society, and Growing the American Workforce 2021 NSF 20-604

Deadline

Deadline for Internal Review:

October 15, 2020

Project Description

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced tremendously and today promises personalized healthcare; enhanced national security; improved transportation; and more effective education, to name just a few benefits. Increased computing power, the availability of large datasets and streaming data, and algorithmic advances in machine learning (ML) have made it possible for AI research and development to create new sectors of the economy and revitalize industries. Continued advancement, enabled by sustained federal investment and channeled toward issues of national importance, holds the potential for further economic impact and quality-of-life improvements.

The 2019 update to the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan, informed by visioning activities in the scientific community as well as interaction with the public, identifies as its first strategic objective the need to make long-term investments in AI research in areas with the potential for long-term payoffs in AI. The President’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology has published Recommendations for Strengthening American Leadership in Industries of the Future, including AI, and calls for new and sustained research in AI to drive science and technology progress. The National AI Research Institutes program enables longer-term research and U.S. leadership in AI through the creation of AI Research Institutes.

This program is a joint government effort between the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). New to the program this year are contributions from partners in U.S. industry who share in the government’s goal to advance national competitiveness through National AI Research Institutes. This year’s industry partners are Accenture, Amazon, Google, and Intel Corporation. This program solicitation invites proposals for full institutes that have a principal focus in one or more of the following themes, detailed in the Program Description:

Theme 1: Human-AI Interaction and Collaboration
Theme 2: AI Institute for Advances in Optimization
Theme 3: AI and Advanced Cyberinfrastructure
Theme 4: Advances in AI and Computer and Network Systems
Theme 5: AI Institute in Dynamic Systems
Theme 6: AI-Augmented Learning
Theme 7: AI to Advance Biology
Theme 8: AI-Driven Innovation in Agriculture and the Food System

The National AI Research Institutes program will fund Institutes comprising scientists, engineers, and educators united by a common focus on advancing the research frontiers in AI. 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.

Eligibility

An individual may be designated as senior personnel (which includes but is not limited to PI or co-PI) on at most one project team submitting to this solicitation.

UW-Madison may submit 2 proposals.

Website

The following link contains additional information on the program and specific application instructions:
https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2020/nsf20604/nsf20604.htm

Internal Competition Application Instructions

Applications for Internal Review

To submit your application, attach a single PDF to an email to: grants@research.wisc.edu

Please include the following information:

Cover Sheet including the project title, name and department of PI, list of project personnel and partner organizations, and which theme or themes the project will focus on (1 page)
CV of lead PI
Research project summary of no more than 5 pages of how the proposed project meets the goals of the solicitation

Sponsor Deadlines

Applications are due to NSF by December 04, 2020.

Questions?

Contact grants@research.wisc.edu.