Good Afternoon,

The Department of Energy has released a solicitation Artificial Intelligence Research for High Energy Physics which limits the number of proposals that can be submitted from an institution. A synopsis and information on how to secure the Harvard nomination can be found below:

DOE Artificial Intelligence Research for High Energy Physics

Harvard Expression of Interest Deadline: April 4, 2022

Sponsor LOI Deadline (strongly encouraged): April 21, 2022

FAS/SEAS/OSP Deadline: May 17, 2022

Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: May 24, 2022

Award Amount: Up to $3,000,000 per year for multi-institutional teams and $150,000 for seed applications with a project period of up to three years.

The DOE SC program in High Energy Physics (HEP) has announced its interest in new applications for support of Artificial Intelligence Research for High Energy Physics. This FOA refers to research into and development of computational systems that take action to achieve a goal as Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and may include Machine Learning (ML) techniques as appropriate. This Announcement invites applications for AI research in three topic areas:

1. AI research for HEP
2. HEP for AI research, and
3. development of an HEP AI Ecosystem.

There are two paths for applications seeking support from this FOA:

1. Multi-Institution Teams: This FOA seeks to support broad ambitious research requiring multiple institutions via research teams led by a single institution with subawards to team members. Such teams are particularly appropriate when the involvement of multiple institutions permits the formation of larger teams that can address multi-faceted questions of scientific inquiry, especially where the problem can be factorized across team members. Multidisciplinary efforts are encouraged when appropriate for the work proposed. Multi-institution collaborations must be led by a DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) National Lab.
2. Single-Institution Seed Awards: Exploratory investigations by researchers and institutions new to the field, or smaller scale studies of HEP or AI-research are sought through the seed awards. Applications for seed awards must be from only a single institution, but may involve multiple co-PIs at that institution if appropriate for the proposed scope of work. Applications in the seed award path may be appropriate for PIs from non-traditional HEP institutions, HEP PIs who have minimal prior AI research experience, or for establishing feasibility of blue-sky research.

Harvard is limited to submitting four seed grant LOIs and proposals to the sponsor. To determine if an institutional selection is necessary the Office of the Vice Provost for Research has asked that interested applicants submit a brief expression of interest online here no later than April 4, 2022.

There is no limit to the number of multi-institutional teams that an institution may join as a non-lead team member. An individual is limited to being named as the lead PI on no more than one letter of intent or application. The lead PI on a letter of intent or an application may not be listed as a senior or key personnel on any other submission.