Schmidt Sciences backs UChicago’s AI research with a computing network and grant

UChicago and Schmidt Sciences have announced a new computing network and a grant to establish the university’s AI for Science platform. The coordinated effort aims to expand computing capacity for scientific AI research, supporting work across fields from weather forecasting to chemistry rather than a single research project.

UChicago President Paul Alivisatos and Schmidt Sciences President Stuart Feldman made the announcement at the three-day UChicago–Caltech Conference on AI+Science. Held at UChicago, the gathering brought academic researchers together with leaders from industry, government and philanthropy. The university described the announcement in its November 3 account of the conference.

Computing access as a research constraint

The leaders framed computing access as a condition for pursuing scientific breakthroughs. Alivisatos said the support would help faculty pursue their ambitions for AI-enabled research. Feldman’s argument focused on the questions researchers can attempt—not just the computing resources they can obtain.

Scientific ambition should not be limited by whether a research team can secure the computing power needed to pursue its most important questions

Stuart Feldman, president of Schmidt Sciences

Feldman described the Schmidt Science Computing Network as pairing advanced computing with expert support and durable software. Those elements are intended to help scientists work at new scales. His description makes the intended offer broader than computing power alone: support and software are also part of the network’s approach.

A platform spanning scientific fields

UChicago’s AI for Science initiative, also called AI4S, includes participation in the new network. The university says it will serve both research and teaching goals. Its stated scope reaches across the natural sciences and into questions about human thought, rather than concentrating the support in one discipline.

The initiative’s stated research areas

• Climate and weather forecasting, ecology and biological systems.
• Astronomy, quantum science, chemistry and AI-enabled instrumentation.
• Research at the intersection of AI, human reasoning and creativity.

The announcement establishes the intended relationship: Schmidt Sciences is backing UChicago’s platform, and the university’s initiative will participate in the computing network. The scale of the grant remains undisclosed. UChicago called it a major grant but did not provide a dollar amount in its announcement.