Dear U of I System Deans, Directors and Department Heads –
It is our pleasure to share with you the Call for Proposals for the Discovery Partners Institute’s (DPI) 2021 R&D Science Team Seed Funding Competition.
Please join your University of Illinois System colleagues in building DPI’s research and development portfolio by applying for a DPI R&D Science Team Seed Funding Grant. Science teams should be interdisciplinary and preferably inter-institutional with the goals of creating new economic value, answering significant research questions, and addressing grand societal challenges. Applicants should address these goals by establishing innovative research teams or new businesses. The 2021 cohort will add to our list of successful and dynamic teams created in 2020.
For this funding opportunity DPI is seeking proposals in the following sectors:
• Digital Government
• Finance and Insurance
• Food and Agriculture
• Health and Wellness
• Information Technology
• Infrastructure
• Transportation
• Water and Climate
Proposals should focus on the applications of computing technologies (e.g., AI/ML, Big data, Edge/IoT, security/privacy) to problems facing these sectors in order to address important societal challenges. We also expect proposals to be interdisciplinary and substantially well-rounded to address the broader aspects/impacts of the problems tackled. Maximum requested amount of funding is $125k over 18 months. More details are available at the competition webpage.
An informational webinar will be held on Thursday, May 13 from 8:30-10 am. The first half of the meeting will be an information session that will be recorded and distributed on our website after the event. The second half of the meeting will be dedicated to networking and team building session towards facilitating interdisciplinary and inter-institutional teams.
We request that you please forward this email to your departments and faculty distribution lists.
Best regards,
Bill Jackson and Venkat Venkatakrishnan
