Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology - AI in Science (Northern Arizona University Grant)

Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology - AI in Science (Northern Arizona University Grant) is sponsored by Sloan Foundation. This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

## To continually monitor the landscape of emerging technology with the aim of identifying emerging new sectors, tools, and methods of working that we believe have potential, but which may not yet receive funding from mainstream/other sources. [](https://sloan.

org/programs/digital-technology/exploratory-grantmaking-in-technology) Exploratory grantmaking is intended to bring community needs and priorities into sharper focus and allow the Foundation to determine whether there is a clear strategy and potential impact in a specific area.

Supported activities may include workshops and other expert convenings, early technology development and prototyping, landscape analyses, development of protocols and standards, initial research on and engagement with potential user communities, and demonstration or other proof-of-concept projects.

Ideal focus areas lie at the intersection of research and technology, are sufficiently limited that the Foundation could make an impact with its available resources, and involve issues for which public or private funding is scarce or unavailable. [](https://sloan.

org/programs/digital-technology/exploratory-grantmaking-in-technology) The complexity and opacity of AI-driven research methods has raised new questions about the degree to which their results can or should be trusted to advance scientific research.

Current areas of interest include: reproducibility and transparency of machine learning-enabled science; ways that the philosophy of science and related fields might help to inform the optimal uses of machine learning to produce new knowledge; and the relative value of foundation models vs. good old fashioned machine learning for scientific discovery.

### Automation in Science Advances in robotics can enable the automation of many aspects of scientific lab and field work, especially when coupled with AI to dramatically accelerate iterative cycles of discovery. Though not substantially funding the implementation of these systems at scale, we are currently exploring their optimal uses by researchers as well as the institutional structures to support them. [](https://sloan.

org/programs/digital-technology/exploratory-grantmaking-in-technology)[](https://sloan.

org/programs/digital-technology/exploratory-grantmaking-in-technology) * $99,916 To develop CommUnityBuddy, a conversational agent leveraging generative AI to assist in on-boarding new contributors to open source scientific software projects Learn More * $400,000 To support the Metascience and AI summer institute and the AI and Data Ethics Summer Training Program (AIDE Summer), two programs focused on the training of early career philosophers and social scientists studying the use of AI in scientific research Learn More * $100,000 To support a workshop assessing U.S. infrastructure needs for AI access and adoption Learn More * $120,000 To support participation by university- and nonprofit-based researchers at upcoming Social Science Foo and Sci Foo gatherings Learn More * $199,884 To develop educational guidelines and materials for academic and industry stakeholders to improve workforce competency in laboratory automation Learn More * $249,725 To examine AI adoption by research disciplines through two workshops and a targeted case study of formal mathematics’ adoption of AI in research and practice Learn More [](https://sloan.

org/programs/digital-technology/exploratory-grantmaking-in-technology) * Platforms, protocols, and products supported through the Foundation's grantmaking Learn more [](https://sloan. org/programs/digital-technology/exploratory-grantmaking-in-technology) Interested grantseekers should email a letter of inquiry of no more than two pages to technology@sloan. org.

[](https://sloan. org/programs/digital-technology/exploratory-grantmaking-in-technology) * Joshua M.

Greenberg Program Director * Sonali Chadha Program Coordinator * Devora Najjar Program Associate Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology /programs/digital-technology/exploratory-grantmaking-in-technology Program Goal To continually monitor the landscape of emerging technology with the aim of identifying emerging new sectors, tools, and methods of working that we believe have potential, but which may not yet receive funding from mainstream/other sources.

Strategy Exploratory grantmaking is intended to bring community needs and priorities into sharper focus and allow the Foundation to determine whether there…