CASMI Announces Call for Research Project Proposals

The center seeks to fund new initiatives critical to furthering safety in intelligent systems

The Center for Advancing Safety of Machine Intelligence (CASMI) at Northwestern University launched a Call for Proposals for fundamental research initiatives led by eligible researchers based at any research institution and aligned to its mission of operationalizing safety in machine intelligence. Proposals will be accepted through Monday, September 26; the maximum award is 24 months duration and $275,000 USD.  

“CASMI is delighted to expand the scope of the research we’re funding and the community that does that work,” said Kristian Hammond, CASMI Director. The center has already awarded and executed agreements to fund crucial research projects at six universities: Northwestern, MIT, NYU, UC Santa Cruz, University of Wisconsin, and Cal Poly. As many vital research gaps and opportunities remain, CASMI is issuing this call for proposals to identify additional research partners to fund for critical work over the next two years. 

CASMI is a collaboration between Northwestern University and the Digital Safety Research Institute (DISRI) at UL Research Institutes, building on Northwestern’s research expertise and UL’s 128-year mission to create a safer, more secure, and sustainable future. CASMI was formed to address the problem of operationalizing the design, development, and evaluation of AI systems that are safe for individuals and society.  

To execute this vision, CASMI seeks to fund the initiation of projects aligned to its Research Roadmap. While this work includes a clear focus on technical issues within Artificial intelligence, Machine Learning and Computer Science more broadly, CASMI’s mission scopes beyond the systems themselves to how they are used and who they impact, drawing on fields such as Sociology, Cognitive Psychology, Anthropology and Behavioral Economics. While the research work may be done anywhere around the world, it is unified in the CASMI vision of developing mechanisms for the evaluation, design, and development of machine intelligence that is safe, equitable, and beneficial for all who are impacted by its use. 

Read more about the research scope and priorities in the full call for proposals and find instructions to compile a proposal on the CASMI Website.