UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence (CSRAI) invites short proposals for its annual seed funding program. Applications will be accepted through Nov. 1, with projects expected to start in spring 2024 and last for up to two years.

Complete details on the program, including criteria, allowable expenses, and the application process, can be found on the InfoReady application page. 

Penn State faculty are encouraged to submit proposals for research that advance the center’s mission of promoting, practicing and studying socially responsible ways of using, building and deploying AI technology. Pilot projects should show potential for transformational research on AI that can contribute to social good, social accountability, social consciousness, social justice, equity, ethicality, fairness, inclusivity, transparency, privacy, human agency or related concepts and topics. 

“With rapid advancements in AI technology outpacing existing laws and policies, there is an urgent need to encourage socially responsible development of AI tools and applications,” said S. Shyam Sundar, director of CSRAI and James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. “The purpose of this grant program is to incubate social consciousness by fostering collaborations between AI engineers and humanists and between computer scientists and social scientists.” 

Funding will be provided through three types of grants: 

• Collaboration Initiation Funding ($500–$5,000), which aims to assist Penn State faculty in forming interdisciplinary research teams and seed projects directed at pursuing external funding. 

• Pilot Project Funding ($5,000–$25,000), which aims to 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. 

• Pilot Project Funding — Diversity Track ($5,000–$25,000), which aims to support projects that meet the criteria required for Pilot Projects and 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. Each proposal 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.  

AI researchers who would like to explore social aspects of their technical projects and promote responsible development of AI technology can enlist the services of the center's Social Responsibility Consultancy. 

Questions regarding this proposal solicitation can be directed to Sundar at sss12@psu.edu.