IAIER Seed Grant Program

The Seed Grant program at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Research (IAIER) is designed to support early-stage research projects, innovative ideas, and pilot initiatives that align with the institute’s mission of advancing artificial intelligence. IAIER is partnering with Graduate Studies on their Faculty Research Award Program (FRAP) initiative to administer the Seed Grant program.

The program will provide small, targeted funding to faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and students to jumpstart promising AI-related projects that have the potential for long-term impact. Please review the FRAP information below for proposal submission details.

• Foster innovative AI research: Encourage exploratory research in cutting-edge AI technologies, applications, and methodologies.

• Promote interdisciplinary collaboration: Support projects that integrate AI with fields such as healthcare, education, and law.

• Expand participation in AI research: Create opportunities for a broad range of researchers and students to engage in AI-related work and contribute to the field’s growth.

• Encourage external funding: Help seed grant recipients generate preliminary data and results to strengthen future applications for larger grants from federal agencies, industry partners, or private foundations.

Objective: Empower and support tenured/tenure-track, full-time faculty members in conducting innovative research within their respective fields of study.

Grant Amount: Provide small grants of up to $10,000 to facilitate research projects.

Scope: Address pressing issues at the local, regional, state, and national levels.

Goals:

• Promotion of impactful research: Encourage the pursuit of research that advances knowledge within specific academic disciplines and contributes to solving real-world problems.
• Encouragement of collaboration: Foster collaboration among faculty members through the promotion of interdisciplinary research proposals.
• Holistic problem-solving: Support the development of holistic solutions by encouraging collaborative research projects that address complex challenges comprehensively.
• Fairness and transparency: Conduct a limited and competitive selection process, ensuring funding is contingent upon the availability of resources and based on the merit and potential impact of research proposals.
• Contribution to academic excellence and societal betterment: Facilitate the pursuit of excellence in research and scholarship while promoting the generation of knowledge that addresses pressing societal needs.