Slots: 2. An organization may submit no more than two preliminary proposals to this solicitation as lead institution. An organization may submit up to two full proposals that correspond to preliminary proposals reviewed under this solicitation. In the event that an organization exceeds these limits, preliminary proposals will be accepted based on earliest date and time of preliminary proposal submission, i.e., the first two preliminary proposals will be accepted, and the remainder will be returned without review. A full proposal that does not correspond to a preliminary proposal reviewed in this program will be returned without review.
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Thursday, November 18, 2021, noon PT (updated)
LOI: January 14, 2022
External Deadline: May 13, 2022
Award Information
Award Type: Cooperative Agreement
Estimated Number of Awards: 7
Anticipated Award Amount: $140,000,000
Who May Serve as PI: No restrictions or limits. An individual may be designated as senior personnel (which includes but is not limited to PI or co-PI) on at most one preliminary proposal, an at most one full proposal to this solicitation. In the event that an individual exceeds this limit, proposals will be accepted based on earliest date and time of submission, i.e., the first compliant preliminary or full proposal will be accepted, and the remainder will be returned without review.
Link to Award: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2022/nsf22502/nsf22502.htm
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Office of Research Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/.
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Single Page Proposal Summary (0.5” margins; single-spaced; font type: Arial, Helvetica, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 1-page limit will be excluded from review.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs and Co-PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#, Gender, and Ethnicity. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
Building upon the network established by the first 18 AI Research Institutes, this National AI Research Institutes program solicitation will fund Institutes comprising 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.
This program solicitation expands upon the nationwide network established by the first 18 AI Research Institutes to pursue transformational advances in a range of economic sectors, and science and engineering fields. In this round, the program invites proposals for institutes that have a principal focus in one of the following themes, detailed in the Program Description:
- Theme 1: Intelligent Agents for Next-Generation Cybersecurity
- Theme 2: Neural and Cognitive Foundations of Artificial Intelligence
- Theme 3: AI for Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry
- Theme 4: AI for Decision making
- Theme 5: Trustworthy AI
- Theme 6: AI-Augmented Learning to Expand Education Opportunities and Improve Outcomes
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.