AI Discovery & Capacity Building Grants
The Research & Innovation Office (RIO) is launching a pilot AI Discovery & Capacity Building Grant Program to support two types of activities: (1) pilot projects that use artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate research, scholarship, or creative work; and (2) workshops or symposia that build campus capacity to integrate AI across research, scholarship, and creative activities.Ìý
This request for proposals (RFP) is intended to help Â鶹ÊÓƵ investigators test AI-enabled approaches, generate early evidence, and strengthen the quality, scale, and competitiveness of their work. It is also timely given a broader shift in the external funding landscape, as federal agencies, foundations, and other sponsors increasingly value AI-enabled research, advanced computing, and data-driven methods.
Projects do not need to study AI itself, but should use AI as a tool to advance inquiry in any domain, including approaches such as machine learning, generative AI, natural language processing, computer vision, or predictive modeling.
The program supports targeted, short-term projects and interdisciplinary team-development activities, including external partnerships where appropriate, that use AI to address specific research or creative challenges, reduce workflow bottlenecks, build shared capability, or position teams for future external funding.Ìý
Â鶹ÊÓƵ invites two types of proposals:Ìý
(1) Research pilot projects that apply AI to a defined research question, scholarly problem, creative process, or workflow challenge; andÌý
(2) Workshops or symposia that use AI as a focal point for interdisciplinary exchange, skill building, project planning, or development of communities of practice, with tangible outcomes such as use cases, shared methods or datasets, or pathways to external proposals.Ìý
Across both categories, proposals should be scoped to demonstrate meaningful value within a short timeframe and, where appropriate, strengthen readiness for future external funding opportunities.Ìý
Program GoalsÌý
- Accelerate research, scholarly and creative progress by applying AI-enabled methods, tools, or workflows.
- Generate pilot data, proof-of-concept results, prototypes, or methods that strengthen future research and, where appropriate, future proposals to external funders.
- Foster interdisciplinary collaboration that brings together domain expertise and AI-related expertise.
- Support workshops or symposia that advance team formation, research exchange, project planning, skill building, or communities of practice.
- Promote responsible use of AI consistent with university policy, sponsor requirements, data governance, and scholarly standards.Ìý
Scope and PrioritiesÌý
Projects may come from any discipline, including the humanities and arts. All proposals must explain how AI will accelerate or otherwise meaningfully advance research, scholarly, or creative outcomes rather than simply add a technology component. Acceleration should be defined in ways appropriate to the discipline and may include reducing time to insight, supporting creative iteration, expanding the scale or complexity of analysis or production, and improving accuracy or reproducibility where relevant.
Competitive proposals will identify a bottleneck, opportunity, or convening need; explain why AI is an appropriate approach; and describe what success will look like by the end of the project period, including any relevant data governance, validation, reproducibility, or compliance considerations.ÌýÌý
Responsive proposals may include:Ìý
- AI-enabled analysis of complex, high-volume, or multimodal research data.
- Use of generative AI to support hypothesis generation, literature synthesis, code development, experiment design, simulation, or decision support in research settings.
- Methods that improve the speed, rigor, or quality of data curation, annotation, classification, extraction, or interpretation.
- Research and scholarly workflows that integrate AI with laboratory, field, archival, computational, or creative methods.
- Shared AI-enabled tools, pipelines, or software with value across multiple research groups.
- Workshops or symposia that support research exchanges, project planning, skill building or development of communities of practice. ÌýÌý
Proposals are especially encouraged from investigators who are newly incorporating AI into their work, adapting AI methods to new disciplinary contexts, or building new interdisciplinary connections.Ìý
Applicants are encouraged to engage CU Research Computing (CURC) for optional support in shaping AI-enabled project ideas. CURC can provide guidance on data readiness, workflow feasibility, and appropriate tools and infrastructure, as well as help identify potential challenges early to improve the likelihood of project success.ÌýPlease contact CURC by completing this .
Award Information & EligibilityÌý
Award sizeÌý | Up to $25,000Ìý |
|---|---|
Number of awardsÌý | Approximately 4–6 awards, subject to available fundsÌý |
Project periodÌý | Up to 9 monthsÌý |
Lead PI eligibilityÌý | All Â鶹ÊÓƵ Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty, Instructors and Senior Instructors (including Teaching Assistant Professors, Teaching Associate Professors, and Teaching Professors), and Career Track Research Faculty (i.e., Research Professors Series, Senior Research Associates* (SRA), and Research Associates* (RA)) who hold an appointment of half-time or greater are eligible to apply. The lead PI must be employed by Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Adjoint professors are eligible as long as they submit a letter from their unit or department head confirming they hold a long-term appointment of half-time or greater. Co-PIs can be funded as long as they are eligible Â鶹ÊÓƵ faculty who hold an appointment of half-time or greater. Collaborators from other institutions are permitted but cannot receive funding from the program. *Postdoctoral Associates, Postdoctoral Fellows, and Research Associates/Senior Research Associates in short-term, transitional postdoctoral training positions should not apply as the intent of this award is to foster new and innovative programs of research and scholarly activity that will be of long-term benefit to Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Professional Research Assistant (PRA) or Senior Professional Research Assistants are ineligible.Ìý |
Team compositionÌý | Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged; co-investigators and collaborators may include faculty, research scientists, librarians, professional research staff, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students, as appropriateÌý |
A PI may serve as the lead PI on only one proposal but may participate on additional proposals as a co-investigator or collaborator.Ìý
Allowable Uses of FundsÌý
Allowable costs may include graduate student, postdoctoral scholar, or research staff support; student hourly assistance; software, cloud-computing, API or data-access costs necessary for the proposed work; research supplies; consultant or technical services when well justified; direct workshop or symposium costs; and limited equipment or devices essential to project execution.Ìý
Funds may not be used for faculty salary, indirect costs, routine office equipment, general-purpose computing that is not specifically justified by the project, or conference travel unrelated to project execution.ÌýÌý
Proposal RequirementsÌý
Proposals should be no more than three total pages, excluding CVs/biosketches and optional letters of collaboration. The three-page limit applies to all items below, combined.ÌýAll proposals should include the components below in one PDF document and be clearly marked by section. Proposals that fail to comply with these requirements will not be reviewed.
- Project abstract (≤250 words). A summary of the research, scholarly or creative challenge, how AI will accelerate the work, and expected outcomes.
- Project narrative. Ìý
- For research project proposals, address: the research challenge and significance; how AI will accelerate the workflow and productivity; the proposed approach and work plan; expected outcomes and deliverables; and the pathway to external funding.
- For workshop or symposium proposals, address: the defined goal (e.g., skill building, development of communities of practice, research exchange); why the convening is needed; participating disciplines; proposed format and work plan; expected outputs and campus impact. Ìý
- AI tools and platforms. Briefly list any AI tools, platforms, or models (e.g., ChatGPT, TensorFlow, Gemini, etc.) your research group currently uses or plans to use in this project.
- Timeline, milestones and budget summary. Provide key project milestones and a concise summary of how funds will be used.Ìý
- Two-page CVs or biosketches for the PI and key personnel.Ìý
- Optional letters of collaboration confirming substantive contributions or access to needed resources.Ìý
ÌýÌýNote: Proposals involving restricted, confidential, export-controlled, proprietary or human-subjects data should explain how data access, privacy, security and compliance requirements will be met.Ìý
Review ConsiderationsÌý
ÌýÌýImpact and significanceÌý
The importance of the research, scholarly, or creative question, problem, or opportunity, and the extent to which the project is likely to accelerate research capability, quality, scale, or interdisciplinary collaboration, including through a workshop or symposium. Ìý
ÌýÌýApproach and feasibilityÌý
The soundness of the proposed approach, including the appropriateness of the AI methods, and the likelihood that the project can be completed successfully within the proposed timeframe and budget. Ìý
ÌýÌýTeam strengthÌý
The qualifications of the team and the fit between disciplinary, technical, and collaborative expertise needed to carry out the project. Ìý
ÌýÌýFuture potential and institutional value
The extent to which the project could lead to follow-on external support, scale-up, broader adoption, future proposal development, or reusable capacity, methods, workflows, or infrastructure for Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Ìý
ÌýÌýAI integration and learning valueÌý
The extent to which the project demonstrates a clear and meaningful use of AI in research, scholarship or creative work, with potential to generate lessons that could inform broader adoption across the university.Ìý
Ìý
Awardee ExpectationsÌý
- Complete the project within the approved 9-month project period.
- Participate in brief progress check-ins, as requested by RIO.
- Submit a concise final report describing outcomes, deliverables, lessons learned and next-step funding plans. Workshop awardees should also summarize participants, outputs, and any follow-on collaborations or proposals. Ìý
- Be prepared to share outcomes through a campus showcase or similar forum, if requested.Ìý
TimelineÌý
Solicitation releasedÌý | April 8, 2026Ìý |
|---|---|
Proposal deadlineÌý | May 26, 2026, 11:59 p.m. MTÌý |
Decisions announcedÌý | June 2026Ìý |
QuestionsÌý
Questions about this solicitation may be directed to the Research & Innovation Office rio@colorado.edu.ÌýÌý
Deadlines
Solicitation releaseÌý | April 8, 2026Ìý |
|---|---|
Proposal deadlineÌý | May 26, 2026, 11:59 p.m. MTÌý |
Funding decisionsÌý | June 2026Ìý |
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