NEH Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence

NEH Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence

Below is a summary assembled by the Research & Innovation Office (RIO). Please see the full solicitation for complete information about the funding opportunity.

Program Summary

The Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence program aims to support a more holistic understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) in the modern world through the creation of new humanities research centers on artificial intelligence at eligible institutions. Centers must focus their scholarly activities on exploring the ethical, legal, or societal implications of AI.  

A Center is a sustained collaboration among scholars focused on exploring a specific topic. Successful applicants will examine the humanities implications of AI through two or more related scholarly activities. Centers must be led by scholars in the humanities or humanistic social sciences, but should include scholars from multiple disciplines. Scholars may come from one or more institutions. NEH welcomes international collaboration, but scholars at U.S. institutions must contribute significantly to the project. This program is for establishing new Centers; existing Centers and Institutes are not eligible in this competition.

NEH particularly encourages Centers interested in equity, privacy, and civil-rights topics.

In addition to the establishment of a sustainable Center, your project should engage in at least two activities that support research into the ethical, legal, or societal implications of AI. Appropriate activities may include but are not limited to: collaborative research and writing efforts; workshops or lecture series; education and mentoring; and the creation of digital tools to increase or advance scholarly discourse about AI. 

Deadlines

CU Internal Deadline: 11:59pm MST January 8, 2024

NEH Application Deadline: February 14, 2024

Internal Application Requirements (all in PDF format)

• Project Summary (3 pages maximum): Please include details on the: 1) project team members and their contributions to the center; 2) narrative including an overview, thematic focus and significance, proposed activities, collaboration efforts and plans, institutional context, work plan (1-2 sentences) and future plans (1-2 sentences); and 3) work plan (preferably in table form) of what will be accomplished with major tasks and milestones. See the solicitation for full details.
• CVs/Resumes for Project Team (2 pages maximum for each team member)
• Budget Overview (1 page maximum): A basic budget outlining project costs is sufficient; detailed OCG budgets are not required.

To access the online application, visit: https://cuboulderovcr.secure-platform.com/a/solicitations/6923/home

Eligibility

Centers must be led by scholars in the humanities or humanistic social sciences, but should include scholars from multiple disciplines. Scholars may come from one or more institutions. Centers must involve more than one scholar.

Limited Submission Guidelines

Applicants may submit only one application.

Award Information and Federal Matching

The maximum award amount is up to $750,000 with an outright award of $500,000 and an additional $250,000 in federal matching funds. This includes the sum of direct and indirect costs.

The period of performance may be up to 3 years.

Review Criteria

The internal review committee will use NEH’s criteria when evaluating internal proposals.

1. Significance (aligns with narrative sections Project overview and Thematic focus and significance)

The intellectual significance of the Center’s vision, mission statement, and chosen thematic focus, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both; the relevance of the Center’s proposed focus to the goals of the Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence program; the Center’s potential to stimulate new research and contribute to larger questions about the ethical, legal, and societal implications of artificial intelligence. 

2. Activities and execution (aligns with narrative section Proposed activities)

The likelihood that a Center will be formally established and sustained; the appropriateness and feasibility of the activities proposed by the Center to target the chosen thematic focus; the quality of the Center’s methodological conception; the clarity of expression in the application; where relevant, the soundness and appropriateness of digital and technical methods. 

3. Participants (aligns with narrative sections Proposed activities and Collaboration and institutional context and with Attachments 1: Project team and 4: Résumés )

The qualifications, expertise, and levels of commitment of the project director and collaborating or participating scholars; the appropriateness of the team members for the achievement of the Center’s goals; the diversity of viewpoints included. 

4. Work plan and completion (aligns with narrative section Work plan and Attachment 3: Work plan)

The clarity and feasibility of the work plan; the likelihood that the Center will achieve its goals within the stated time frame; and the reasonableness of the budget in relation to the proposed activities and work plan. For collaborating scholars previously funded during an earlier phase, productivity in relation to previous goals. 

5. Dissemination plans and long-term vision (aligns with narrative sections Thematic focus and significance and Future plans)

As applicable, the plans to disseminate the knowledge produced by the Center to both scholarly and public audiences and any future plans to grow or expand the activities of the Center after the grant’s period of performance.