Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2023-19

NSF Announces 7 New National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes

The U.S. National Science Foundation, in collaboration with other federal agencies and higher education institutions and other stakeholders, today announced a $140 million investment to establish seven new National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes (AI Institutes). Today’s announcement is part of a broader effort across the federal government to advance a cohesive approach to AI-related opportunities and risks.

The new AI Institutes will advance foundational AI research that promotes ethical and trustworthy AI systems and technologies, develop novel approaches to cybersecurity, contribute to innovative solutions to climate change, expand our understanding of the brain, and leverage AI capabilities to enhance education and public health. The AI Institutes will support the development of a diverse AI workforce in the United States and help address the risks and potential harms posed by AI. Today’s investment means the NSF and funding partners have now invested close to half a billion dollars in the AI Institutes research network, which reaches almost every U.S. state. The institutes will focus on six research topics: 

• Trustworthy AI, under the University of Maryland-led Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society.
• Intelligent agents for cybersecurity, under the University of California Santa Barbara-led AI Institute for Agent-based Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operation.
• Climate-smart agriculture and forestry, under the University of Minnesota Twin Cities-led AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy.
• Neural and cognitive foundations of AI, under the Columbia University-led AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence.
• AI for decision-making, under the Carnegie Mellon University-led AI-Institute for Societal Decision Making. 
• And AI-augmented learning to expand education opportunities and improve student outcomes, under both the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign-led AI Institute for Inclusive Intelligent Technologies for Education and the University at Buffalo-led AI Institute for Exceptional Education.

The new AI Institutes are interdisciplinary collaborations among top AI researchers and are supported by co-funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST); U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T);  U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA); U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (ED IES); U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (DoD OUSD R&E), and IBM Corporation (IBM).

NSF: Infrastructure Capacity for Biological Research (Capacity); Infrastructure Innovation for Biological Research (Innovation); Catalyzing Institutional Change to Support Greater Equity, Inclusion, and Access in STEM Academic Careers and Advanced Degree Attainment

NIH: BRAIN Initiative: Targeted BRAIN Circuits Planning Projects – TargetedBCPP (R34); Small Research Grant Program for the Next Generation of Researchers in AD/ADRD Research (R03); NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research: Tools and Technologies to Explore Nervous System Biomolecular Condensates (R21)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Air Force FY24 Young Investigator Program (YIP); Parkinson's Investigator-Initiated Research Award; DOD Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic, Applied Research Award; ONR Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) Program

NASA: ROSES 2023: A.39 Early Career Investigator Program in Earth Science; Early Stage Innovations; ROSES 2023: B.5 Living with a Star Science

National Endowment of Humanities: Climate Smart Humanities Organizations

Energy Eyes Industry Partnerships to Further Biofuel Development: Engineers working to develop sustainable biofuels within the Department of Energy are turning to industry to play a major role in advancing the broad economic shift away from petroleum. Reyhaneh Shenassa, the chief engineer at the agency’s Bioenergy Technologies’ Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, discussed where the department wants to drive its bioenergy technologies research and development at an OurEnergyPolicy panel Wednesday. A key ingredient in biofuel development will be cellulosic materials—a naturally occurring polymer found largely in wood and other plant matter. “We at the Department of Energy, at BTOB, are hoping to [collaborate] with industry to have technologies that are using cellulosic material to make a ton [of biofuel],” she said. Shenassa explained that cellulosic biomasses could serve as a foundational ingredient in next-generation biofuels. One example she cited of where private sector partnerships can work is in the use of cellulosic biomass algae, as well as other natural and “waste” materials, to create hydrocarbon fuels. Research teams within Energy are aiming to scale these technologies to potentially serve as a petroleum-based fuel substitutes, particularly within the transportation sectors. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Public-Private Partnerships will be Key in National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization: Ongoing federal funding will be crucial to continued research efforts in the critical and burgeoning quantum information technologies field, as funding established by foundational legislation mandating government investment—2018 National Quantum Initiative Act—is set to expire at the end of this fiscal year. Speaking during an event hosted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, federal officials working closely within the government’s quantum information sciences programs discussed what the QIST field will need from a reauthorized bill.  Catherine Johnson, the staff director of the Research and Technology Subcommittee within the House Science, Space and Technology Committee—which initially introduced the bill that former President Donald Trump signed five years ago—said reauthorization was a “top priority” for this Congress to accomplish. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Lawmakers Intro 2 Bills to Strengthen DOE Research Partnerships: House Science Committee lawmakers introduced two bills on Thursday to bolster the Department of Energy’s existing research partnerships with NASA and the National Science Foundation to better address critical science and technology challenges. The legislation would  codify collaboration between the agencies and enable them to better combine resources, according to a press release.  As global competition increases and new opportunities for governmentwide collaboration and coordination develop, it is important to strengthen these interagency research partnerships for the future, the press release noted. The DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act, introduced by Energy subcommittee Chairman Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., and Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Ranking Member Eric Sorensen, D-Ill., would improve coordination between the two agencies, who have a history of collaborating on fundamental and early-stage research, especially on nuclear propulsion and power for spacecrafts. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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