Bridging Barriers writes about Good Systems and their year 2 project grant opportunities on February 2020.Office of the VP for Researc

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RFP: Year 2 Project Grant OpportunitiesAnnouncedThe Good Systems grand challenge funds projects thathelp ensure AI technologies meet societyʼs needs andvalues. This yearʼs grant options are divided into threetiers based on activity type. Proposal deadline is 5 p.m.,Friday, March 27, 2020.The Good Systems Grand Challenge project is proud to announce the launch ofthree Year 2 Project Grant opportunities.  The Good Systems project fundsresearch projects that help ensure artificial intelligence (AI) technologies meetthe needs and values of society. Good Systems funding brings togetherresearchers with varied disciplines and ways of thinking into teams that willcollaborate on one or more Good Systems research areas of define, evaluate,or build:DEFINE: Human values are different across individuals and groups of people,and they change over time. Given that diversity, we ask, What does it meanfor a system that uses AI technology to be good? Good Systems projectsaim to increase knowledge about what constitutes the “good” and the“system” in a good system.EVALUATE: For any system that includes AI technology, we ask, How do wedecide if it is good (or not)? Good Systems projects can increaseknowledge about how to evaluate whether systems are good and how tobring stakeholder values into systems design.BUILD: To understand the impacts of systems incorporating AI technology,Good Systems projects will investigate How can we best build goodsystems? Such Good Systems projects will test and refine comprehensiveinterdisciplinary approaches to building good systems incorporating AItechnology, and this could include identifying testing venues, developingprotocols, and building and deploying prototype designs.Good Systems Project awards are available at three different levels, or “tiers.” Project Tiers each fund different types of activities.  Individuals can serve as aPrincipal Investigator for a maximum of only one proposal, and they may befunded as a project team member on only one proposal per tier and on no morethan two total submitted proposals overall. Teams whose proposals are notselected may resubmit their proposals in any subsequent relevant Good Systemsfunding calls.Proposal deadline for all tiers is 5A00 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 2020. Application Review Process and Evaluation CriteriaGood Systems Project applications will be reviewed by the Good SystemsExecutive Team.  Awards will be announced on May 1, and funds will be disbursedSept 1. Evaluation criteria include: InterdisciplinarityDemonstrated commitment by the team to establishing interdisciplinarycollaboration.Evidence that this funding will enable the team to overcome barrierscurrently prohibiting them from collaborating.Proposals with project teams that include collaborations across thehumanities, social sciences, and technical disciplines are strongly favored.Priority will be given to project teams that are inclusive of a broad range ofsocial and technical disciplines. Project teams are encouraged to include UTstaff or graduate students to broaden their project team sʼ range ofdisciplines. FeasibilityThe proposal clearly describes what objectives the project team intends toachieve, how the project team intends to reach them, and the anticipatedimplications of the project sʼ findings.The proposed project clearly applies sound investigative methodology.Data collection and analysis procedures are specified and are demonstrablylinked to the research questions or hypotheses being investigated, whereverappropriate.The proposal is written so that a person with no prior knowledge of thesubject may make an informed judgment as to the scientific or scholarlymerit of the proposed project. SignificanceThe proposed research clearly fits within and move forward the selectedresearch area.The potential impacts of the proposed research are both scholarly (in thesense of advancing our understanding of Good Systems and leading tomeaningful publications—listing planned venues is recommended) andsocietal (in the sense of potentially improving the world in some way).The proposal is supported by citations of relevant scholarly literature. Leveraging UTʼs InvestmentThe proposed collaboration holds the potential to enhance UT Austin sʼcompetitiveness in securing external funding.The proposal clearly describes plans for pursuing external funding, includingproviding details about the targeted funders and programs, and howresearch from this project will feed into external funding proposals to one ormore programs or agencies and make such proposals competitive.If this is a continuation of a year 1 project, the proposal must clearly describethe progress made in year 1 and how the additional UT funding will allow theteam to secure external funding.Tier I Tier II Tier IIIUp to $50,000Up to 12monthsUp to$100,000Up to 12monthsUp to$200,000Up to 12monthsContinuation ofyear 1 GoodSystemsprojects. Tier IProject awards,up to $50,000per award, willgo to GoodSystems Year 1project teamsthatdemonstrate(1) substantialprogress fromyear 1, (2) theneed foradditionalfunding todevelop theirproject, and (3)a convincingplan to attractexternal fundsfor the project.Creation ofnewpartnershipsand/or thedevelopmentof new projectteams withproposals toadvanceresearch in oneor more of theGood Systemsresearch areas.Tier II Projectawards, up to$100,000 peraward, will goto groups thatinclude at leastone currentGood SystemsNetwork*member.Creation ofCity of Austin-centeredresearchproposals toadvanceresearch inone or moreof the GoodSystemsresearchareas. Tier IIIProjectawards, up to$200,000 peraward, will goto well-establishedand mobilizedgroups thatinclude atleast onecurrent GoodSystemsNetwork*member and aCity of Austinstakeholderpartner.Submit a Tier IproposalSubmit a TierII proposalSubmit a TierIII proposal*A list of current Good Systems Network memberscan be found on the Good Systems website underthe “Network” tab:https://bridgingbarriers.utexas.edu/good-systems/#team. If you want to join the GoodSystems Network please email(goodsystems@austin.utexas.edu).3/12/20, 12(32 PMPage 1 of 1

RFP: Year 2 Project Grant Opportunities Announced

https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/2152/80266/2/Safari%20-%20Mar%2012%2c%202020%20at%2012_32%20PM.pdf

RFP: Year 2 Project Grant Opportunities Announced

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