NRT-IPP: Universal AI

About This Grant

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into daily life with significant impacts on both individuals and society. As such, it is important that AI is accessible to all users. However, ensuring that everyone can utilize AI systems presents research challenges and requires new ways of training the next generation of AI developers and researchers. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Institutional Partnership Pilot (NRT-IPP) award, led by Gallaudet University and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), will create an integrated and interdisciplinary training curriculum for a new master’s program track to develop innovative skills for creating broadly accessible AI. It will address gaps in graduate training to ensure that future AI developers consider the full range of users’ sensory abilities. The project anticipates training 100 Master of Science (MS) students, including 25 funded trainees, from Accessible Human-Centered Computing, Neuroscience, Education, Cognitive Science, and related STEM disciplines. This project will establish a new Master of Science (MS) in Accessible AI at Gallaudet University (GU). GU will partner with RIT in human-centered AI research and knowledge transfer, in addition to expanding collaborations with industry. Graduate trainees will pursue research to solve complex problems for achieving accessible AI across societal domains and realizing technology transfer. The GU-RIT partnership will launch an impactful and resilient graduate research training framework that prepares future AI developers with competencies to create the next generation of responsible AI systems, while promoting a progressively expanding AI workforce pipeline. Overall, the project aims to generate and disseminate new knowledge, produce open-access research mentoring and graduate training resources, and prepare versatile professionals and scientists capable of advancing AI, enhancing U.S. industrial competitiveness, and promoting participation for people across a wide range of sensory abilities. The NRT Institutional Partnership Pilot (NRT-IPP) is a collaborative effort between the Directorates for STEM Education (EDU) and Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) to support research and education projects with high industry relevance in emerging fields. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.