The National Center for Supercomputing Applications received funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to renew its annual Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, the Future of Discovery: Training Students to Build and Apply Open Source Machine Learning Models and Tools (FoDOMMaT).
Housed in NCSA’s Center for Artificial Intelligence Innovation (CAII), the 10-week on-site experience brings about 10 undergraduate students each year from a variety of academic backgrounds to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus to engage in cutting-edge machine learning and deep learning projects, developing open source machine learning models and tools and applying them to solving real-world problems. NSF awarded NCSA with a $465,000 grant to continue providing these summer opportunities for undergraduate researchers for an additional three years.
“One of the primary goals of CAII is to offer educational and research opportunities for students interested in AI and its applications in science and engineering,” said Volodymyr Kindratenko, director of CAII and principal investigator on the REU FoDOMMaT grant. “With the renewed NSF support, the program will provide participants with practical training and expose them to a research environment focused on advanced topics where their skills can be developed.”
This year’s application period is currently open with a final deadline of March 15. The 2025 FoDOMMaT program will begin May 26 and run through August 1.
“NCSA has had an REU site for the past seven years, and we are pleased to be able to continue offering students this opportunity for another three years,” said NCSA Chief Scientist and FoDOMMaT co-PI Daniel S. Katz. “As NSF says about the REU program, ‘students work closely with faculty and other senior researchers to: conduct authentic research, receive mentoring, build their knowledge and research skills, and learn about educational and career pathways in STEM.’ REU projects also offer NCSA-staff and affiliated researchers an opportunity to try out new ideas, which can blossom into new research projects and new collaborations, in some cases with the REU students continuing to be involved.”
Through FoDOMMaT, students can explore a wide range of societal issues and utilize the presented methodologies to imagine new ways of solving them. Bringing together the brightest minds and fostering innovation are pillars of NCSA’s mission within the research computing community.
“The NSF REU programs are some of the many ways NCSA endeavors to engage with student researchers from across the country,” said NCSA Director Bill Gropp. “I’m very proud of the success this program has had over the years and the accomplishments of the participants. NCSA is always looking toward the future of research computing, and these students will play a big role in what that future will be.”
ABOUT CAII
The Center for Artificial Intelligence at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign operates as a central nexus that spearheads AI research and application in academia and industry. The center empowers and supports advancements in AI by leveraging NCSA’s cutting-edge technology and expertise and facilitating collaboration across multiple disciplines, including agriculture, astrophysics, automotive, big data, and infrastructure. Furthering NCSA’s commitment to accelerating AI, the CAII is dedicated to building foundations that will pave the way for the next generation of innovators.