Northwestern has secured a $20 million grant, funded by the National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation, to develop a new artificial intelligence institute for astrophysics research, the University announced Wednesday.
The institute, billed the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky and abbreviated as “SkAI,” will focus on developing new AI technology that will analyze and interpret astronomy datasets as well as transform physics-based simulations.
“Northwestern’s commitment to interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration ensures this initiative will thrive, driving groundbreaking discoveries and reinforcing the region’s research excellence,” Eric Perreault, NU’s vice president for research, said in a Wednesday news release.
NU has partnered with the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Illinois Chicago and the Adler Planetarium for this project.
Astrophysics Prof. Vicky Kalogera will serve as the director of SkAI. The principal investigators of the grant include Kalogera and McCormick Prof. Aggelos K. Katsaggelos.
“We will transform our astrophysical understanding across an enormous range of scales — from stars and the transients they produce to the evolving galaxies they live in, the black holes they form, and the dark sector of the universe and its cosmological origins,” Kalogera said in the release.
The institute will unite 83 team members from 25 organizations, including 14 NU faculty members.
SkAI is one of two National AI Research Institutes in Astronomy announced Wednesday that will receive $20 million in the next five years. Led by the University of Texas at Austin, the NSF-Simons AI Institute for Cosmic Origins will also use the grant to develop AI tools for astronomical research.
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