The University of North Texas (UNT) is hosting the NSF CISE MSI Aspiring PI Workshop at Denton Convention Center, Denton, Texas on Dec 12-13, 2024. The CISE MSI program aims to broaden participation by increasing the number of CISE-funded research projects from Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and to develop research capacity toward successful submissions to core CISE programs. MSIs are central to inclusive excellence, fostering innovation, cultivating current and future undergraduate and graduate CISE talent, and bolstering long-term US competitiveness. The workshop aims to bring together researchers, both funded PIs and aspiring PIs, for the CISE MSI-focused programs, such as CISE MSI and ExpandAI. The events will provide a platform for participants to meet at large, share research insights, identify challenges and opportunities, and initiate potential research collaborations with the objective of submitting MSI proposals in the 2025 and 2026 competitions. The workshops will pursue four major objectives: 1). Community building: strengthen relationships among Data Science (DS), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Extended Reality (XR) to foster broader data-intensive research communities at MSIs; 2). Cross-learning: facilitate knowledge sharing, best practices exchanges, and training for aspiring PIs from MSIs to leverage success and enhance proposal development skills; 3). Mentoring Program (MP) that will give each research team experienced coaching; 4). Collaboration development: foster new collaborations, explore future opportunities to advance research initiatives, and prepare collaborative proposals towards CISE MSI-focused programs.

These objectives will provide robust scaffolding to MSI researchers to develop competencies of team performance and proposal competitiveness through facilitating ideation, team building, instruction, review, and mentoring. The workshop program will comprise informational presentations by NSF Program Directors and invited speakers, alongside breakout sessions for aspiring PIs such as brainstorming sessions, mentor/mentee sessions, and lightning talk sessions.

Participants will receive a stipend to cover or defray the cost of travel, meals, and lodging.

Contact

Sponsor

Support

Dr. Kewei Sha, Associate Professor of Data Science, University of North Texas (UNT)

Dr. Sharad Sharma, Professor of Data Science, University of North Texas (UNT)

Dr. Peter J. Clarke, Associate Professor, Florida International University (FIU)