Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology: Trust in Algorithmic Knowledge

Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology: Trust in Algorithmic Knowledge is sponsored by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology Click to search the website Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology Click to expand this navigation menu History of Science and Technology Small-Scale Fundamental Physics Click to expand this navigation menu Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology Click to expand this navigation menu Click to expand this navigation menu Anytime, Anyplace Learning Better Software for Science Chemistry of Indoor Environments Data & Computational Research Information about Careers in Science and Technology Making Municipal Governments More Responsive Microbiology of the Built Environment Professional Science Master's Degree Universal Access to Knowledge Workplace, Workforce, and Working Families Sloan Research Fellowships Commitment to Opportunity for All Click to expand this navigation menu Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology Click to search the website 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.

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.

Current areas the Foundation is exploring include: 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.

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.

Announcing the Metascience & AI Postdoctoral Fellows To support a postdoctoral fellowship on Metascience & AI with a specific interest in the relationship between AI technologies, intuition, and creativity in mathematics To pilot two studies on how generative AI use influences skill acquisition and retention among software developers at different levels of expertise Renaissance Philanthropy Fund To support a workshop that aims to advance lab automation through improved interoperability of scientific instruments To support a Winter School training early career scholars in interdisciplinary research for emerging technologies Foundation for Earth Science Information Partners To develop and pilot a scoring tool for better assessing data repository resilience To support a postdoctoral fellowship on Metascience & AI with a specific interest in assessing the novelty and adoption of AI methods in astronomy A periodic compilation of grantee news, project updates, interesting links, and things we're reading and thinking about.

Platforms, protocols, and products supported through the Foundation's grantmaking Content and formatting requirements for program grantees for the submission of interim and final grant reports Interested grantseekers should email a letter of inquiry of no more than two pages to [email protected] .

Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology /programs/digital-technology/exploratory-grantmaking-in-technology 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.

Exploratory grantmaking is intended to bring community needs and priorities into sharper focus and allow the Foundation to determine whether there… Click to expand this navigation menu History of Science and Technology Small-Scale Fundamental Physics Click to expand this navigation menu Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology Click to expand this navigation menu Click to expand this navigation menu Anytime, Anyplace Learning Better Software for Science Chemistry of Indoor Environments Data & Computational Research Information about Careers in Science and Technology Making Municipal Governments More Responsive Microbiology of the Built Environment Professional Science Master's Degree Universal Access to Knowledge Workplace, Workforce, and Working Families Sloan Research Fellowships Commitment to Opportunity for All Click to expand this navigation menu © 2026 Alfred P.

Sloan Foundation