With support from university seed grants, 10 faculty members will make Stony Brook a destination this year for researchers from a wide range of disciplines.
“The Spring 2025 Research Conference and Workshop Seed Grant Program is a strategic investment in our faculty’s capacity to lead, convene, and educate,” said Kevin Gardner, vice president for research. “By investing in faculty-led research events, we hope to create safe spaces for vibrant intellectual dialogues on some of the most innovative ideas across campus that will serve as launchpads for high-impact research. Our goal is to bring scholars together to explore ideas, form sustainable connections, and shape the future of research.”
The seed grants, worth up to $5,000 each, will help faculty host research conferences on campus over the next 12 months.
“As a public flagship, Stony Brook has a role and responsibility to support our researchers in combining their strengths across disciplines and departments,” said Interim President Richard L. McCormick. “Empowering our faculty to host workshops and conferences sparks innovative research and meaningful partnerships while expanding Stony Brook’s excellence beyond our campus. The possibilities are endless when researchers explore new directions together.”
The grants are funded by the Office of the President, the Office for Research and Innovation, the Office of the Provost, and the Office of the Executive Vice President for Health Sciences.
“I am proud to see our faculty demonstrating such strong commitments to making Stony Brook a destination for cutting-edge discussions, and to building bridges across and between disciplines,” said Carl W. Lejuez, executive vice president and provost. “In our complex world, no longer can we anticipate the solutions we need will come solely from one field or one group of researchers. Stony Brook faculty are eager to work and learn from each other, and efforts like these help make us the number one public institution and a state flagship.”
Robert Harrison, professor, Department of Applied Math and Statistics, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS); endowed director of the Institute for Advanced Computational Statistics, received funding. In collaboration with Eva Siegmann, lead research scientist, IACS and Joseph Schuchart, senior research scientist, IACS, Harrison will be leading the Expanding Horizons in AI Workshop.
Building from a large annual meeting of a network of high performance computing experts hosted by Stony Brook, Harrison will convene a smaller group to discuss how high performance computing can support advances in artificial intelligence. As AI models become more complex and data-intensive, regular computers struggle to meet their demands. Harrison’s workshop will convene experts to discuss what role advanced computing can and should play in supporting the growing needs of and demand for AI.
Read the full story on SBU News.