Newswise — The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation announces the establishment of a new program for Machine Learning in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering. The goal of this program is to further the understanding and applications of machine learning throughout the chemical sciences. This program is open to academic institutions in the States, Districts, and Territories of the United States of America that grant a bachelor’s or higher degree in the chemical sciences, including biochemistry, materials chemistry, and chemical engineering. The deadline is April 2, 2020.

"In view of the increasing attention to and expectations for the profound impacts that artificial intelligence and data science will have on physical science and engineering, the Dreyfus Foundation plans to make strategic investments in machine learning for the chemical sciences and engineering, both to advance the field in these areas, and to help position the chemical sciences field to best avail itself of the broad agency opportunities for research support that are emerging. We are enthusiastic about the potential for machine learning to produce useful fundamental and practical insights in chemical research." -Richard N. Zare and Matthew V. Tirrell, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Scientific Affairs Committee of the Board of Directors. 

Below are some examples of areas this program may support: 

  • molecular synthesis, including mechanisms, techniques, and applications
  • theory, computation, physical properties of molecules or materials
  • rates and mechanisms of new chemical processes
  • new or improved materials and materials applications
  • postdoctoral support for collaborations that combine chemical science research with machine learning expertise 
  • collaborative sabbaticals, extended visits, and meetings 
  • education, e.g., new courses, seminar series, MOOCs
  • public libraries of chemistry and chemical engineering data for use in machine learning

Note that proposals are not restricted to the areas described above.

Please contact [email protected] if you have questions regarding a grant application. Additional details are available at http://www.dreyfus.org