RFP for Emerging Artificial Intelligence Systems Now Open
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 7, 2024) — The UAlbany-IBM Center for Emerging Artificial Intelligence Systems (CEAIS) is now accepting white papers as part of the first request for research proposals on AI infrastructure and applications.
The announcement comes on the heels of the joint IBM-UAlbany announcement that UAlbany would be the first university in the world to receive an IBM Artificial Intelligence Unit (AIU) cluster, designed by IBM Research to spur innovations in AI. Installation of that cluster was completed last month.
The five-year strategic research collaboration is dedicated to advancing elements of the state-of-the-art AI technology stack, from infrastructure to applications, that support shared and complementary objectives of both IBM and UAlbany.
Selected projects will be awarded up to $100,000 for a one-year period by CEAIS. Proposals are due March 22.
The selected projects will each be led by a UAlbany principal investigator and IBM co-PI to promote close collaboration, joint publications, strong student engagement and opportunities for third-party funding.
“IBM’s decision to offer the very first IBM AIU computing cluster to UAlbany is a testament to the outstanding work our faculty and scientists are doing in generative AI and the strong collaboration between our organizations,” said UAlbany Vice President for Research and Economic Development Thenkurussi “Kesh” Kesavadas when announcing the project.
“With access to this powerful new system, UAlbany researchers will have the tools to collaborate on next-generation AI foundation models," said Kesavadas in announcing the RFP. "The seed funding will allow UAlbany scientists to collaborate with IBM AI experts to innovate and tackle challenging use cases.”
Submissions are limited to one paper per investigator, and researchers may submit only one paper as either a PI or co-PI. Papers must be submitted electronically via this online form using the templates provided.
No budget is needed for Phase I. Selected proposals will be invited to submit a detailed scope of ork and budget during Phase II.
Questions can be directed to [email protected].