Princeton University has been selected as one of five higher education partners in a new National Science Foundation Artificial Intelligence Materials Institute (NSF AI-MI). This $20 million federal investment, which is part of a larger $100 million NSF initiative, is set to open this fall at Cornell University. Its mission is to use AI to dramatically accelerate the discovery of new materials critical for advancements in energy, sustainability, and quantum technologies.
The institute will leverage AI to overcome existing limitations in materials research by creating a coalition of scientists, materials researchers, and data scientists. In partnership with Intel, the group includes scholars from Princeton, Cornell, the City College of the City University of New York, and Boston University.
Focus on targeted design and collaboration
Princeton Professor of Chemistry Leslie Schoop will serve in the institute’s executive management as a co-PI, bringing her expertise in quantum chemistry.
Schoop emphasized the importance of having materials researchers at the table.
“I’m excited that people who understand materials are part of this group. It tells me that they’re really serious about doing this right,” she said.
The institute will develop an open, cloud-based platform called the AI Materials Science Ecosystem (AIMS-EC). This portal will combine a large language model with data streams from experiments, simulations, and scientific papers. The goal is to yield promising leads that scientists can pursue with confidence, reducing the trial-and-error process of materials discovery.
In an official press release, Cornell Provost Kavita Bala noted that the integration of AI and materials research will lead to “powerful new mechanisms for discovery and development.” Brian Stone, who is performing the duties of the NSF director, added that the initiative is key to “strengthening our workforce and boosting U.S. competitiveness.”
Beyond research, the institute will also have an educational component, preparing students at all levels for careers at the intersection of AI and the physical sciences. Another Princeton scholar, Jason Lee, is also involved with a separate NSF initiative, the AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning (NSF IFML), further solidifying Princeton’s role in the national AI research landscape.
