The UC Davis Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Research (CeDAR) has awarded over $1 million dollars in grants to 18 campus researchers studying innovative data science.
"Data science and artificial intelligence are playing an increasingly important and expansive role in the world today, including the rapid advancement in key research fields like healthcare, agriculture, environment and bioengineering," said Thomas Strohmer, director for CeDAR and a professor in the UC Davis Department of Mathematics. "That's why the award recipients are in so many fields of research."
CeDAR, one of four IMPACT Centers launched last fall by the UC Davis Office of Research, has the primary mission of fostering innovative and groundbreaking multidisciplinary research in data science, with a particular interest in funding innovative concepts that promised high reward and high impact.
The main objective of these grants--the first to be awarded by CeDAR--is to create strategic research partnerships across all disciplines on campus engaging in data science research. Grants awarded ranged from $40,000 to $100,000.
All submitted proposals went through a rigorous review process by a panel of UC Davis faculty with relevant experience. Proposal evaluators gave strong preference to projects that created new collaborative and interdisciplinary teams, presented innovative areas for focus and showed potential for significant societal impact.
Two of the research projects focus on the coronavirus pandemic: Democratizing Health Research Through Privacy-Protecting Synthetic Data, led by Strohmer, and Using Data Science to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic, led by Francisco Arsuaga, a professor in the departments of Mathematics and Cellular and Molecular Biology.
All senior investigators involved in each of the awarded proposals will become CeDAR affiliate members, expanding the growing network of interdisciplinary researchers at UC Davis applying their expertise and energy to the advancement of data science applications.
The awards:
All projects will receive funding for a duration of 12 to 24 months and each team will be presenting their research and findings at future CeDAR events throughout that time. All teams will also be participating in CeDAR activities for data science research, education and community building.
"I would like to congratulate all of the recipients and look forward to seeing the outcome of their innovative work," said Prasant Mohapatra, vice chancellor for research at UC Davis. "CeDAR's grant program illustrates the intent of our IMPACT Centers, to stimulate innovative interdisciplinary research that responds to society's greatest challenges."
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