The University of Southern California (USC) Office of Research and Innovation (OORI) has announced two new awardees named under the Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Research Program. Research focused on generative AI enables faculty to explore groundbreaking technologies that have the potential to revolutionize industries, from healthcare to education. It fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, allowing researchers to address complex challenges and develop innovative solutions with far-reaching societal impact.
The University of Southern California (USC) has established the Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Research Program to support innovative research in the rapidly evolving field of generative AI. This initiative is part of USC’s broader commitment to advancing AI technologies and understanding their societal implications. Through the internally funded GenAI Research Program, OORI provides funding to explore the transformative impact of GenAI on the world, including its potential capacity to unleash human potential. Funding is available for researchers from across schools and disciplines. The GenAI Research Program comprises three subprograms: (1) Building GenAI Research Networks: This subprogram facilitates the formation of interdisciplinary teams to explore GenAI applications across various domains. It encourages collaboration among researchers from different USC schools to address complex challenges in AI; (2) GenAI Research Award: Designed for established teams, this award provides funding for smaller-scale GenAI-focused research projects that demonstrate potential to impact the field significantly. Projects should have a clear path toward sustained funding or support beyond the initial project period; and (3) Collaborative GenAI Research Award: Aimed at larger interdisciplinary teams involving faculty from at least three USC schools, this award supports comprehensive research projects applying GenAI to diverse areas such as information and data sciences, life sciences, engineering, physical sciences, social sciences, and more. The goal is to generate preliminary data that will strengthen applications for substantial external funding.
The awardees under the GenAI Research Program are as follows:
- Meisam Razaviyayn, PhD – Andrew and Erna Viterbi Early Career Chair and Associate Professor Industrial and Systems Engineering, Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering; USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Proposal Title: Making Generative AI Accessible: Efficient Training and Fine-Tuning with Resource-Aware Algorithms
- Sam Silva, PhD – Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Population and Public Health Sciences; USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Proposal Title: Generative AI for Climate Super-resolution: Predicting Local-Scale Climate Impacts