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Discovering the Future of AI grants program is sponsored by Penn AI. This program provides faculty with 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.
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Discovering the Future of AI | Penn AI Discovering the Future of AI Penn AI is pleased to announce the first four awardees for the Discovering the Future of AI awards. Fifty-four competitive applications were submitted in response to the request for proposals, representing creative and bold ideas in research and education across Penn’s schools.
In addition to the four awards totaling $450,000, an additional 31 faculty applicants representing eleven schools received awards for high performance computing needs supported by the Penn Advanced Research Computing Center (PARCC) for an estimated value of $852,000, bringing the total support to $1. 3 million.
Access to high-performance computing enables Penn researchers to run state-of-the-art AI models, analyze far larger datasets, and pursue bold, high-risk ideas without financial constraints. The Discovering the Future award is designed to catalyze high-risk, high-reward research and education at the intersection of artificial intelligence and domain scholarship for the benefit of society.
We congratulate the following four awardees: CASPER4D: Computer Assisted Surgical Performance Evaluation via Reconstruction Assistant Professor of Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine (in collaboration with School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) CASPER4D is a collaborative research project using AI to reconstruct four-dimensional surgical environments from standard video to assess skill, predict risk, and improve patient outcomes.
The Penn AI Pedagogy Initiative: Building Capacity for Meaningful and Responsible Adoption at Scale Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education (in collaboration with School of Arts & Sciences) The Penn AI Pedagogy Initiative supports faculty and students in co-designing AI-enhanced teaching practices, building a scalable framework for responsible AI adoption in education.
Molecule 3D Structure Informed Science Agentic LLM Presidential Associate Professor, Perelman School of Medicine (Microbiology) (in collaboration with School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) ApexMol will integrate language and 3D molecular structure to enable AI systems to reason about and design new biomolecules, accelerating discovery.
EchoMFM: A Multimodal Foundation Model for Automated Clinical Interpretation of Echocardiograms Professor, Perelman School of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine) EchoMFM will integrate imaging, EHR, reports, ECG, and MRI data to generate draft clinical interpretations and improve diagnostic efficiency.
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.
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. For any educational program or course, applicants must provide a detailed explanation of how AI will enhance the course, impact students, and advance Penn’s leadership in AI/ML education.
An unrestricted research award of up to $200,000 for one (1) year. Awards are for direct costs only. 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: Cover Page (InfoReady will autogenerate) including: Candidate’s name, academic rank, department, email address, phone number, and campus address. Research projects specify one of the following categories (refer to the Penn AI website for details at: https://ai. upenn.
edu/ai-penn) Abstract (maximum 1 page) 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?
Brief Project Budget (maximum 1 page) 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. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (maximum 2 pages)
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Faculty members eligible to serve as Principal Investigator for research projects, or applicants for educational programs/courses who can detail how AI will enhance the course and impact students. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows up to $200,000 for one year. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
Discovering the Future of AI grants program is funded by Penn AI. Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
This opportunity targets applicants in Pennsylvania. If your organization operates elsewhere, check the official notice for location requirements.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
Discovering the Future of AI grants program is sponsored by Penn AI (University of Pennsylvania). Provides faculty with resources to pursue paradigm-shifting research and education in AI and its applications, fostering synergies between AI advances and novel applications across disciplines. Encourages proposals led jointly by two Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs) from different schools: one core AI/ML faculty, and one faculty expert in the relevant application domain.
Discovering the Future of AI Awards is a grant from Penn AI at the University of Pennsylvania that provides faculty with critical resources to pursue paradigm-shifting research and education in artificial intelligence and its applications. Awards of up to $450,000 plus $852,000 in computing resources are available for one-year projects with potential for additional funding in subsequent years. Eligible applicants are University of Pennsylvania faculty and students. Proposals led jointly by Co-Principal Investigators from different schools are strongly encouraged, pairing core AI/ML faculty with domain experts. Priority areas include AI Foundations, AI and Business, and AI and Education.
NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Program is a grant from NVIDIA providing up to $60,000 per award to PhD students conducting research that advances accelerated computing and its applications. Now in its 25th year, the program invites nominations from doctoral students pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and related fields. Recipients receive not only research funding but also access to NVIDIA technology, products, and engineering expertise, along with a mandatory in-person summer internship. Students are nominated by their faculty advisors and selected based on academic achievement and research area alignment.
CalSEED Concept Award is a grant from the California Energy Commission that provides $150,000 in funding to early-stage clean energy innovators in California. The program targets individuals, businesses, and nonprofits developing hardware, software, or integrated solutions at Technology Readiness Levels 2-4. Eligible technology areas rotate each cycle and have included battery recycling and reuse, long-duration energy storage, medium- and heavy-duty vehicle electrification, industrial electrification, and advanced EV charging. Applicants must be located in California, have under $1 million in private funding, and propose innovations that benefit California ratepayers. Concept Award winners also receive professional development resources and access to accelerator programs, and may compete for a subsequent $450,000 Prototype Award.
NIST SBIR Phase I - Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics is sponsored by National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST SBIR Phase I - Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics is a grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that funds small businesses with innovative research and technology ideas in advanced manufacturing and robotics.
The William Penn Foundation's May 2026 docket distributed $57.2M across 128 grants, with 41 percent flowing to Children and Families. The breakdown reveals which Philadelphia nonprofit categories are gaining institutional traction and which are being asked to make harder cases.
Read articleWilliam Penn's 128-grant, \$57.2M May 2026 distribution reveals a Philadelphia-focused funder doubling down on children, arts education, and civic infrastructure as federal support recedes.
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