UVA Catalyst Cohort

The AI Research Initiative supports faculty who want to extend their research with AI, whether that means entering the field for the first time or sharpening specific skills. Bring your ideas to the table with the sustained cohort experience of the AI Catalyst Cohort.

AI Catalyst Program: 2026–27 Call for Applications

1. Application deadline: June 15, 2026
2. Decisions announced: July 1, 2026
3. Program runs: August 2026 - August 2027

About the Program:

If you have a specific research project that would benefit from AI — and you're looking for the skills, knowledge, coaching, or technical help to move it forward, this program is for you. You'll bring a project, and we'll wrap it in AI coaching, AI resources, and AI expertise to help you push it along over the course of the year.

A cohort of up to 15 faculty from across Grounds will engage in sustained learning alongside your project work, with support tailored to where your research needs to go next.

Expectations:

All participants present their project and their year-long journey at the end of the program, a 15 minute presentation plus Q&A in August 2027.

What Participants Receive:

• Up to $10,000 in discretionary research funding
• Mentoring on learning objectives and research
• Priority access to the Data Analytics Center
• Cohort gatherings: 3 times per semester, training, speakers, collaboration
• Showcase: present your project and year-long journey (15 minutes + Q&A) at the end of the program, August 2027

Who can Apply:

Open to full-time tenured and tenure-eligible faculty. The AI area must be new to the applicant and substantive enough to require sustained engagement. "AI-related areas" include fundamental AI technologies (LLMs, machine learning), application of AI tolls to a domain, or the study of AI's societal impact.

How Proposals Are Evaluated:

• Likelihood of satisfactory training outcomes
• Importance of extra-disciplinary training to the applicant's research agenda
• Quality, feasibility, and impact of proposed research

Schools recommend candidates to AI Research @ UVA, which assembles a cohort representing a broad cross-section of disciplines.

What the Current Cohort Is Working On:

A sample of projects from the 2025-26 AI Catalyst cohort:

• Using GANs and Transformers for missing data in longitudinal studies
• How AI assistants covertly influence consumer choices through personalization and micro-nudging
• Classic team-design theories applied to multi-agent LLM systems
• AI pipeline to transcribe 1.4 million BIA index cards for indigenous land policy research
• Mutual fund ESG strategy language shifts in response to regulation
• AI for Higgs boson detection, including jet-level tokenizers for particle physics
• AI medical imaging to detect early tissue damage by linking lab and clinical scans

How to Apply:

• Step One: Submit your proposal

Submit your proposal. Use the application link below. Your local Dean's office will evaluate submissions from your school first and select up to five proposals to move forward to AI Research @ UVA.

• Step 2: Review

Each school forwards up to 5 proposals to AI Research @ UVA for final selection. Decisions announced July 1, 2026.

Questions? Contact Ryan Wright