Ten Cornell postdoctoral researchers who plan to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in areas like materials discovery, physics, biological sciences, and sustainability sciences have been named Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellows, a Schmidt Futures program.

The announcement of the inaugural cohort comes on the heels of Cornell being selected as one of nine universities worldwide to join the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship, a $148 million program that is part of a larger $400 million effort from Schmidt Futures to support AI researchers.

Under this fellowship program, the Cornell University AI for Science Institute (CUAISci) will recruit and train a cohort of up to 100 postdoctoral fellows over the next six years in the fields of natural sciences and engineering. Part of the university’s larger Artificial Intelligence Radical Collaboration, the institute comprises Cornell faculty and researchers from diverse fields who seek to apply AI for scientific discovery, with sustainability being the overarching goal.

“Artificial Intelligence is poised to significantly advance fundamental research in a broad range of scientific disciplines. These fellowships are critical in equipping the next generation of scientists with the AI tools and knowledge they need to tackle some of the hardest scientific problems of our time,” said Kavita Bala, dean of the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. “Together with the Cornell AI Initiative, this inaugural cohort positions Cornell as a leader in AI-enabled scientific research and education.”

“AI is redefining the boundaries of what we thought was possible for a machine, unleashing its full potential to take on human capabilities such as vision and language,” said Carla Gomes, the Ronald C. and Antonia V. Nielsen Professor in Cornell Bowers CIS and co-director of CUAISci. “With its limitless capacity for progress and innovation, AI is set to transform the world of science and usher in a new era of discovery."

Read the rest of the story on the Cornell Bowers CIS website.

Louis DiPietro is a writer for the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.