IDSC invites UM faculty to respond to our Call for Proposals for Expanding the Use of Collaborative Data Science at UM.  The opportunity is designed to increase the use of data science to foster breakthroughs in disciplinary pursuits making the research team more competitive for external funding.  Awards include $20K in discretionary funds plus 1M Service Units (SUs) to be used for high performance computing (HPC) on IDSC systems. It is anticipated that five awards will be made. 

Eligibility

This funding opportunity is open to UM Faculty with an active IDSC Membership. For more information or to apply for an IDSC membership, visit our Membership page. Applications are required to include at least one data scientist (from the Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing – IDSC) and one researcher from a specific discipline. Typically, the disciplinary researcher initiates and leads the project. The IDSC data scientist acts as a high-level consultant to ensure the proposal has enough data science.

The awards include $20K in discretionary funds[1] and 1M Service Units (SUs) to be used for high performance computing (HPC). It is anticipated that five awards will be made. Any topic and issue involving data science are welcome. Pre-submission inquiries are encouraged.

In terms of this grant opportunity, data science is defined as utilizing state-of-the-art approaches such as Machine Learning (ML) or Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable scientific discovery that is data driven. Simply, proposing to analyze large data sets with traditional techniques (e.g., linear regression) is not responsive to this opportunity. Proposals that use ML/AI to develop new understanding are strongly encouraged.

The application process includes two steps:

Step 1: The disciplinary researcher provides a one-page letter of intent to IDSC outlining the discipline-specific research and where data science fits in. Based on the letter of intent, the IDSC review team will identify an IDSC data scientist for collaboration, if the research team has not already identified a IDSC partner.

Step 2: Upon invitation to advance to Step 2, the research team (with assistance from the IDSC data scientist) will prepare a two-page proposal that outlines the research and the data science plan. The proposal should also include a short discussion of potential external funding mechanisms that the proposed work can use to enhance the competitive position of the research team. The application should include an abbreviated 1-page biosketch and a budget with justification using the templates included in this announcement.

 

Reporting

The research team is required to submit an interim report midway through the performance period. The one-page report should include a brief description of the project’s progress and an overview of the financial situation. Upon project completion, the research team will submit a one-page final report detailing any accomplishments attributed to the work of this project [publications, proposal submission(s) for extramural funding, data sets generated, etc.] and give an oral presentation describing the research and results as part of IDSC’s seminar series. Scheduling of the oral presentation will be coordinated by IDSC’s Engagement Office.

 

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by an evaluation committee to determine feasibility, relevance to IDSC programs, and in terms of how the proposed research will put the team in a more competitive position for external funding.

 

Distribution of Award Funds

Funds will be disbursed in two installments. Half of the award funds be disbursed at the start of the performance period. The balance will be released upon receipt of the interim report.

Important Information and Deadlines

• Project Performance Period: January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024.
• Interim Report Due on Monday, July 1, 2024
• Service Units (SU) Expire Friday, January 31, 2025
• Final Report Due on Friday, February 28, 2025
• Oral Presentation of Results Due in Spring 2025

 

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[1] Discretionary funds can be used for salary, travel, and other research-related expenditures as outlined in the proposal budget.  Equipment purchases are not allowed.