NEW YORK, July 23, 2026 — The City University of New York has received an $18.1 million National Science Foundation (NSF) award to create a cloud-programmable national laboratory that uses artificial intelligence and robotics to speed the discovery, design, and production of advanced bio-inspired materials.
The four-year project—the AI-Enabled Bio-Inspired Materials Ecosystem, or AI-BIOME—is one of 20 inaugural projects selected for funding by the NSF’s Test Bed: Toward a Network of Programmable Cloud Laboratories program . It will be led by researchers at The City College of New York’s Center for Discovery and Innovation (CCNY CDI) and the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC), working with Brookhaven National Laboratory and other academic and industry partners.
AI-BIOME will combine laboratory robotics, advanced instruments, shared data systems, and AI agents in an innovation platform designed to accelerate the creation of materials inspired by nature. By integrating AI-guided experimentation with advanced characterization into a continuously learning research platform, AI-BIOME transforms how bio-inspired materials are discovered. Potential applications include sustainable plastics, drug-delivery materials, optical coatings, sensors and smart industrial formulations.
"This NSF award further validates CUNY’s leadership in high-impact STEM research and AI-driven scientific discovery,” said Félix V. Matos Rodríguez , chancellor of The City University of New York. “By harnessing AI and robotics to analyze complex biological systems and accelerate materials design, AI-BIOME complements our ongoing investments in cutting-edge tech research while advancing the university's mission to expand access to research tools so scientists nationwide can drive discovery for the public good.”
AI and robotics will drive a new research model
The AI-BIOME research platform will enable researchers to test more possibilities and make progress faster. They will guide the work, define the problems and evaluate findings with assistance from AI agents that help analyze results, recommend promising next steps, and automatically carry out approved experiments. This approach is particularly promising in a field where vast numbers of molecular interactions create an immense discovery space that cannot be explored experimentally using traditional approaches.
"AI-BIOME will create a new kind of scientific discovery laboratory in which AI agents directly coordinate robotic synthesis, processing, and characterization equipment and decide which experiments to run next," said Ronald Koder , CCNY professor of physics and the project’s principal investigator. "By moving beyond conventional high-throughput screening to machine-learning-guided rapid exploration of vast combinations of ingredients and processing conditions, the facility will accelerate the creation of bio and bio-inspired materials with properties that traditional approaches might never uncover. At the same time, the resulting data will reveal new principles governing how both natural and designed materials assemble, function, and achieve their performance."
Remote access will broaden participation
Researchers from universities, national laboratories, small businesses, and industry will be able to design and run experiments remotely. A shared data system will connect each stage, from a material’s molecular makeup and formulation to its processing and performance, while capturing results in real time so AI systems can adjust experiments. By extending access to automated, AI-enabled laboratories beyond large corporations and well-funded institutions, AI-BIOME will support academic and industrial projects and broaden participation in advanced materials research.
"This is an incredibly exciting moment for CUNY and for materials science,” said Rein Ulijn , director of the CUNY ASRC Nanoscience Initiative, distinguished professor of chemistry at Hunter College, and the project’s co-principal investigator. “Artificial intelligence is transforming how we discover, but it needs laboratories that can learn and experiment alongside us. With AI-BIOME, we're creating exactly that capability—opening new opportunities for researchers, students, startups, and industry to innovate together, and establishing West Harlem as a hub for the next generation of AI-enabled materials discovery."
CUNY facilities will gain advanced automation capabilities
The NSF funding will enable major upgrades to CUNY research facilities. At CCNY CDI, a high-throughput chemistry facility will be equipped for remote autonomous operation, with robots that handle liquids and solids to create and study polymers, hydrogels, colloids, biomolecular structures, and composite materials. At the CUNY ASRC, automated surface science, imaging, and photonics facilities will measure materials’ structure, chemistry, strength, and optical, electrical, and thermal properties. The work will be conducted in partnership with Brookhaven’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials.
“This is an exciting time for science. The future of science involves all research capabilities being AI-ready, with instruments, datasets, and software tools all accessible to AI agents,” said Kevin Yager , interim director of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials and leader of its AI-Accelerated Nanoscience group. “We at Brookhaven are excited to partner on this ambitious project. We hope we can offer CFN’s experience in autonomous experimentation and data management and learn from AI-BIOME as they tackle autonomous discovery head-on. Moreover, we can build towards a future where autonomous platforms at different facilities talk to each other and work together through their AI agents.”
Seven pilot projects will test real-world applications
The platform will be demonstrated through seven pilot projects spanning sustainable materials, medicine, manufacturing, and AI-enabled characterization:
Training will prepare students for AI-enabled science
Workforce development is a central part of AI-BIOME. The project will create a teaching laboratory where students can gain hands-on experience with laboratory automation and AI-assisted research. Training will also include modular certifications, internships, and outreach for high school, trade school, undergraduate, and graduate students.
“The NSF's investment in the AI-BIOME Cloud Lab is a major endorsement of CUNY's leadership in AI-enabled scientific discovery,” said CUNY Graduate Center President Joshua C. Brumberg . “As artificial intelligence transforms how we design new materials, this experimental platform provides the essential laboratory counterpart to accelerate discovery and real-world impact. Together with our recent investments in AI through the Simons Foundation Spergel Initiative, this award strengthens CUNY's role as a national leader in scientific innovation while creating new opportunities for economic growth in West Harlem.”
“This project will significantly enhance our ability to discover new materials with positive implications for sustainability and human health,” said CCNY President Vince Boudreau . “It represents a perfect use case for the application of artificial intelligence tools. I am truly excited that our research is positioned to make so direct an impact on the welfare of humanity.”
“I am incredibly proud and heartened to learn that this team of highly talented researchers have received this prestigious NSF PCL Award,” said Rosemarie Wesson , Associate Vice Chancellor and University Vice Provost for Research. “At a time when federal support for research has declined, this funding is especially inspiring. The AI-BIOME initiative will further strengthen CUNY’s trailblazing leadership in STEM research, accelerate AI-driven scientific discovery, and reinforce the University’s position as a national leader in innovation.”
“I am so excited that this proposal has been funded,” said CCNY Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Tony Liss . “It is going to be a game changer for developing new materials, and it is a testament to the ingenuity and collaborative nature of our faculty.”
“The proposal to the NSF presents the ASRC and CDI as connected spaces with scientists from both institutions working together on the scientific drivers and pilot projects,” said CCNY Associate Provost for Research Ishita Mukerji, highlighting the collaborative nature and teamwork involved. “This project demonstrates how the combined facilities and joint expertise of CCNY and ASRC researchers are advancing discovery of bio-inspired materials.”
“We at the CUNY ASRC already serve as a New York-based, university-wide, citywide, and statewide core facility for diverse academic and industry partners,” said Mark Hauber , executive director of the CUNY ASRC. “With the new NSF award we will be able to transfer these work and research skills to many more trainees across CUNY’s 220,000+ strong student body,”
By linking researchers and facilities across institutions, AI-BIOME aims to reduce materials-development timelines from years to weeks or even days while strengthening U.S. leadership in AI-enabled science and advanced manufacturing.
The project's leadership team includes co-principal investigators Saptarashmi Bandyopadhyay (Computer Science, CCNY), Raymond Tu (Chemical Engineering, CCNY), and Xi Chen (Nanoscience CUNY ASRC/Chemical Engineering, CCNY), who bring expertise in multi-agent AI, peptide materials, and automated characterization. AI-BIOME also collaborates and builds on industry partnerships with the CUNY ASRC Center for Advanced Technology (CAT), led by Business Development Director Tavis Ezell.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment . In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 2.2% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.2 billion CCNY's annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the "for dollar" return on investment to students, taxpayers, and society. At City College, more than 16,500 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity, and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign ever. The campaign, titled " Doing Remarkable Things Together ," seeks to bring the College's Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College's mission. By May 2026, $500 million had been raised . CCNY is as diverse, dynamic, and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit .
About the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center
The Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) elevates scientific research and education at CUNY and beyond. The center promotes collaborative, interdisciplinary research through five interconnected initiatives: environmental sciences, nanoscience, neuroscience, photonics, and structural biology. Its researchers work alongside one another and use state-of-the-art core facilities that are available to scientists from CUNY, other academic institutions, government, and industry. Located in Upper Manhattan, the CUNY ASRC serves as the center of an integrated science network connecting faculty, students, and postdoctoral researchers across CUNY.