UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence (CSRAI) is inviting short proposals for a special off-cycle round of Big Idea Grant (BIG) seed funding earmarked for early concepts and research that has transformational potential.

Applications will be accepted at the seed grant website through May 1, with projects expected to start on July 1 and last for up to two years.

This is a high-risk, high-reward grant program to support Penn State faculty in piloting cutting-edge ideas and research that advances the center’s mission of promoting, practicing, and studying socially responsible ways of using, building, and deploying AI technology. All projects should show potential for transformational AI-related research that can contribute to social good, social accountability, social consciousness, social justice, equity, ethicality, fairness, inclusivity, transparency, privacy, human agency or related concepts.

Funding will range from $5,000 to $50,000 and be provided through two types of grants:

1. Pilot Project Funding will support research projects with specific research questions, a well-conceived theoretical basis, an identified team of Penn State faculty collaborators, and strong potential to obtain external funding.
2. Pilot Project Funding – Diversity Track will support projects that meet the criteria required for pilot projects and also have a strong diversity, equity, and inclusion focus that can be demonstrated at any and all levels of the project.

All University faculty can participate, but the principal investigator must be a member of a Penn State college, institute or unit funding the center. Proposals will be evaluated on several criteria, including but not limited to its connection to the center’s mission and its potential for securing external funding.

Interested researchers who are looking for collaborators are invited to submit their interest on the CSRAI website. Penn State faculty can also consult the center’s directory of affiliates and consider becoming an affiliate themselves.

Awarded proposals from the center’s 2021, 2022, and 2023 rounds of seed funding can be viewed on Penn State News. A listing of all the awarded proposals are listed on the center’s website.

Questions regarding this proposal solicitation may be directed to CSRAI director S. Shyam Sundar at sss12@psu.edu.