Institute for Computational and Data Sciences issues call for proposals
The Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS) has announced a new program to foster interdisciplinary collaborations among early-career researchers and Penn State faculty. The ICDS Junior Researcher Collaborations Funding Opportunity is now accepting project proposals.
Faculty are encouraged to submit one or multiple proposals by the deadline of May 9.
All Penn State faculty are invited to submit short proposals describing projects that junior researchers — graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and non-tenure line research faculty — could contribute to and advance ICDS’ main interest areas of artificial intelligence, computational and data sciences, digital twins or quantum sciences.
By May 19, current graduate students and postdocs, incoming postdocs and non-tenure line research faculty will be able to review selected projects online and to apply to contribute to the projects that match their interests and expertise. Junior researcher submissions are due by June 16. Junior researchers are strongly encouraged to propose contributing to two projects, one project closely aligned with their existing research program and a second project beyond their current research group.
Junior researchers may replace the second research project with service to the ICDS community. Examples of service to ICDS include contributing to ICDS’ RISE team of computational sciences and software engineers and by organizing ICDS-supported activities.
“This call serves a dual role,” said Eric Ford, distinguished professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Eberly College of Science and ICDS co-hire, who is leading the call for proposals. “First, it directly supports faculty research programs in strategic areas of artificial intelligence, computational and data sciences, digital twins and quantum sciences to advance science and benefit society. Second, it supports graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and non-tenure line research faculty who are eager to gain experience engaging in interdisciplinary research and to contribute to additional research groups that could benefit from their expertise in advanced computational and statistical methods.”
Selected junior researchers will form a cohort with shared interest in applying advanced statistical and computational methods to a diverse range of problems. They will engage in professional development opportunities such as seminars, workshops and ICDS training during the academic year.
“Junior researchers can gain experience communicating across disciplines, encounter different perspectives for how to approach computational and data sciences problems, and grow their network of mentors,” Ford said. “Whether helping another researcher group apply state-of-the-art methods for analyzing data or working with the ICDS RISE team to support researchers using the Roar supercomputing system, the junior researchers can gain experiences and transferrable skills that they can bring back to their home department and into their future work regardless of whether they pursue careers in academia, government or industry.”
Postdoctoral scholars may request support to start as early as Aug. 1. Graduate students may request support for the fall 2025 or spring 2026 semesters and/or summer 2026.
ICDS will support graduate students with a stipend for a graduate research assistantship at the pay grade typical for the student’s department and stage of progress towards the degree. ICDS will also support postdoctoral researchers and non-tenure line faculty with 25% to 50% of their salary.
The call for proposals also presents opportunities for mentorship between faculty and students.
Tenure-track and non-tenure research faculty who plan to submit and are not currently affiliated with ICDS should also include a plan for how the project would help them engage with and benefit the ICDS mission: using advanced computational and data science approaches to address questions of scientific and societal importance.
Submitting faculty may also propose projects related to research of an existing student or postdoc if the project has a distinctive cross or interdisciplinary component.
“Building a community of researchers across diverse disciplines utilizing computational and data science methodologies is a large part of the institute’s mission,” said Guido Cervone, ICDS interim director. "At ICDS, we have a goal to create research hubs spotlighting our specific areas of interest: AI, computational and data sciences, digital twins, and quantum computing. By bringing these researchers together, we can create meaningful mentorships under these areas of interest that will help the junior researchers as they launch into their research careers."
More information about the call is available on the ICDS website. Penn State faculty should submit their research proposals on InfoReady.