Seed Funding

The Ken Kennedy Institute AI, Data, and Computing Seed Funding Initiative

The Ken Kennedy Institute — supported by contributions from the Rice Synthetic Biology Institute, Smalley-Curl Institute, and Rice Advanced Materials Institute — awarded funding to seven projects through the 2024 AI, Data, and Computing Seed Funding Initiative. This initiative aims to bridge interdisciplinary gaps, foster collaborations, and set forth new paradigms in AI, Data, and Computing by supporting innovative research groups with aspirations to launch groundbreaking projects. The following projects have been funded for the award period of March 2024 – March 2025.

Learn more about each awarded project here.


Social Sciences Projects

The goal is to fund projects in social sciences that demonstrate a clear institutional benefit and can demonstrate a clear potential for external funding. We looked for proposals that promote the mission of the Ken Kennedy Institute and support community building efforts with a potential high return on investment. Proposals that demonstrated potential for long‐term impact and position researchers for being competitive for obtaining external funding were strongly encouraged.

Digital Humanities Projects

The goal is to fund digital humanities projects that demonstrate a clear institutional benefit and can demonstrate a clear potential for external funding. We looked for proposals that promote the mission of the Ken Kennedy Institute and support community building efforts with a potential high return on investment. Proposals that demonstrated potential for long‐term impact and position researchers for being competitive for obtaining external funding were strongly encouraged.

Advancing Computational Health with Houston Methodist (Robotics and Imaging)

The Ken Kennedy Institute has continued its partnership with Houston Methodist Academic Institute and Rice ENRICH to jointly support robotics and imaging projects. In 2022, 11 robotics and imaging projects with Rice Faculty were awarded through the grant program to foster innovative research between Rice University and the Houston Methodist Academic Institute faculty, collaborating researchers, and clinician scientists. View more details here.

Enriching Rice Through Information Technology (ERIT)

The key mission is to fund projects that demonstrate a clear institutional benefit AND/OR can demonstrate a clear potential for external funding, that involve ideas and faculty crossing school boundaries, and that explore the impact of the pervasiveness of information technology on society. We are looking for proposals that promote the mission of the Ken Kennedy Institute, support community building efforts with a potential high return on investment, and give rise to new collaborations that bridge across campus. Proposals that demonstrate potential for short‐ and long‐term impact and position researchers for being competitive for obtaining external funding are strongly encouraged.

  • $724,000 awarded with $51 million ROI between 2003-2016

Collaborative Advances in Biomedical Computing (CABC)

The key mission is to fund projects that demonstrate a clear institutional benefit AND/OR can demonstrate a clear potential for external funding, that involve ideas and faculty from at least one TMC institution outside Rice, that explore opportunities at the interface of information and computing technology and biomedicine. We are looking for proposals that promote the mission of the Ken Kennedy Institute and support community building efforts with a potential high return on investment. Proposals that demonstrate potential for lasting impact, give rise to new collaborations, and have a high probability for attracting external long‐term funding are strongly encouraged.

  • $1.7 million awarded with $5.2 million ROI between 2005-2015

VISIT


The Rice Ken Kennedy Institute is located on the campus of Rice University inside Duncan Hall. Click the map below for directions.


Rice Map

CONTACT


Rice University
Ken Kennedy Institute
6100 Main Street, MS-39
Houston, Texas 77005

CONNECT


Phone: 713-348-5823
Email: kenkennedy@rice.edu


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