Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence manages an annual seed funding program, which aims to generate proof-of-concept studies and preliminary results that will lead to bigger externally funded projects.
Spring 2024 Seed Funding
The Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence (CSRAI) invites short proposals for seed funding from Penn State faculty, for research that advances its 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.
The deadline to apply is November 1, 2023. Applications arriving earlier than November 1 will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Awarded projects are expected to start in spring 2024 and last for up to two years.
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 also have a strong diversity, equity, and inclusion focus that can be demonstrated at any and all levels of the project.
Funding Details
Previously Funded Projects