EAGER: : Empowering the AI Research Community through Facilitation, Access, and Collaboration

This project enhances the role of Campus Champions, research computing facilitators at academic institutions, by equipping them to promote access to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) resources and foster collaborations. It addresses significant barriers in AI research by connecting institutions, including under-resourced and minority-serving institutions with critical tools and expertise. By providing targeted mentorship, and opportunities to participate in key conferences, the project strengthens the network of Campus Champions who empower researchers at their institutions. This initiative promotes the democratization of AI resources and aligns with the National Science Foundation’s mission to advance science, health, prosperity, and equity in the United States. This project expands the Campus Champions program to support AI research by providing Champions with tools and opportunities to attend AI and high-performance computing (HPC) conferences such as Supercomputing and the Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing (PEARC) conferences, and to participate in opportunities such as the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot. The Campus Champions also deliver presentations on AI methodologies at discipline-specific conferences to engage a diverse community. A mentorship program supports new researchers with one-on-one guidance, while Campus Champions contribute to the NAIRR resource repository with materials to promote skill development. Partnerships with peer organizations such as the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC) and the Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) ensure complementary efforts, filling gaps in research support and access. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.