Competition

* Unless explicitly noted, all times indicated for deadlines are for the appropriate NL timezone (NST or NDT)

Grants of up to $250,000 (USD) over up to two years will be awarded to social sciences and humanities postdoctoral researchers who study the implications of AI for Science. This is a postdoctoral fellowship program for grants of up to $250,000 USD to support early career researchers in the social sciences and humanities (with particular emphasis on philosophy, sociology of science, and metascience) who are interested in building a career in understanding the implications of AI for the science and research ecosystem.   

AI (currently understood as a set of technologies including machine learning, deep learning, and foundation models) could accelerate scientific discovery, whether through narrow applications like DeepMind’s AlphaFold, or general applications such as advances in AI-enabled lab robotics, evidence synthesis, or statistical inference. There are many practical and technical challenges to solve before society has fully-fledged autonomous ‘AI scientists’. Nevertheless, it seems inevitable that over the coming years public and private R&D funders will make significant investments both to diffuse and adopt AI technologies, and to solve technical challenges, in the direction of a more heavily AI-mediated research.  

This program will support a cohort of postdoctoral researchers to deepen their understanding of AI technology and pursue career paths which evaluate the phenomenon of AI-mediated science and guide its pursuit, covering one or more of the following objectives:  

• building our understanding of how the growing adoption of AI is changing the research landscape and the day-to-day work of researchers;  

• building our understanding of the epistemic, metascientific, ethical and/or socioeconomic implications of these changes; and  

• building understanding of how governments, industry, and/or funding organizations should respond to improve our research landscape. 

The following are some indicative examples of topic areas of interest:   

• The impact of AI on the topics and methods of scientific research, and how this varies across disciplines  

• AI and the pace of scientific progress    

• Explainability and alignment in scientific AI  

• The skills and training implications of scientific AI  

• The role of humans in AI-driven science  

• Epistemic and ethical considerations concerning the application of AI in the production of research outputs and the assessment of research  

This program will not fund fellows whose primary research focus is the direct development of scientific AI tools. However, given the rapidly evolving landscape of AI technology and the importance of understanding its actual nature when practically engaging with the topics above, applicants are strongly encouraged to identify research organizations and/or industry-based opportunities for technical training and mentorship (either at the host institution or elsewhere) and note these in their application. Applicants including such opportunities in their proposal must obtain the consent of any named individual or organization before submitting their application. We will also support and encourage our fellows to deeply engage with those at the technological frontier through our summer school and other opportunities.  

This program aims to support researchers uniquely interested in AI’s impact on science and the research ecosystem, rather than general AI ethics, safety and society-related topics; not because these general topics are not important within and beyond science, but because they are covered much more substantially elsewhere. Topics that might be considered too general include broad examinations of data and algorithmic bias; AI-generated disinformation; dual use of AI tech; environmental costs of AI; or applications of AI to other industries like clinical medicine, law or fintech rather than to the activities uniquely undertaken in scientific research. Existing funding opportunities are available for general research in AI across a broad range of public and philanthropic funding bodies. 

Partnership with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada 

The Sloan Foundation is pleased to be partnering with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, which will support up to four additional Canadian postdoctoral fellows at eligible Canadian institutions with awards of CAD $140,000 over two years. Canadians are asked to submit their application to the Sloan Foundation, which will undertake the peer review process and make recommendations to SSHRC for funding.

In addition to the external funding agency’s submission procedures, this opportunity must also be submitted for Departmental, HSS Faculty, and Research Initiatives and Services (RIS) institutional reviews and approvals via Memorial's Researcher Portal (RP). In order to facilitate the HSS Faculty’s administrative review, please ensure "Heather C. O'Brien (Grants Facilitator)" and “Matthew Milner (Grants Facilitator)” are added as "Team Members" on your RP file. 

In accordance with University-wide approval protocols, all tabs of the RP file must be completed, the completed application must be uploaded to the “Attachments” tab, all supporting documentation including support for cash and in-kind commitments and/or letters of support must also be uploaded, and “Submit” must be pressed prior to the HSS internal deadline listed below. HSS cannot guarantee completion of an administrative review for application files that are incomplete and/or are submitted after the HSS deadline. For more detailed submission instructions and information, please consult the HSS Research Support Services website.

If you plan to apply to this competition or other research funding opportunities (as either PI or CI), e-mail an HSS Grants Facilitator, Heather C. O’Brien (HSSResearchAdmin@mun.ca or 864-8603) or Matthew Milner (HSSResearchGrants@mun.ca or 864-8050), to notify the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of your intent to apply. E-mailing the intent to apply as early as possible will help to facilitate an efficient review. A Grants Facilitator can answer any questions you may have about internal or external submission procedures and may also be able to help with proposal development.