By Scott Kemps
Office of the Vice President for Research
Topics: Campus News, Global Engagement, Research
African scholars will spend a year studying artificial intelligence technology with University of Michigan data scientists as part of a university program designed to expand AI research and faculty partnerships across African countries.
The effort is part of a new international initiative led by the Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society (MIDAS). Supported by a budget of nearly $6 million, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science African Faculty Fellows is a MIDAS program that aims to enlist outstanding African faculty and researchers and support them in incorporating AI methods into their work.
“This new program underscores the University of Michigan’s commitment to advancing AI research and building global partnerships that drive innovation and address critical scientific challenges,” said H.V. Jagadish, the Edgar F. Codd Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the Bernard A. Galler Collegiate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and director of MIDAS.
“The enthusiasm for this program that we have already seen from our faculty, campus units and our collaborators in Africa is also a great asset for this program,” Jagadish said. “We have every bit of confidence in the program’s success.”
The program aims to drive innovation and address critical scientific challenges that are particularly relevant to Africa. It represents an expansion of MIDAS’s efforts to foster data science and AI research and build global partnerships across academia, government and industry.
Fellows will participate in a two-year program, spending 12 months at U-M to develop AI skills and foster research collaboration, followed by 12 months in Africa to develop AI-enabled research projects and build local research capacity.
While at U-M, the fellows will participate in AI training, including summer academies, and join a collaborative research community of hosts, MIDAS postdoctoral fellows, faculty mentors and the MIDAS program team. The program will support building collaborations with U-M researchers and linking research organizations at U-M and in Africa.
Designed to complement an existing MIDAS postdoctoral training initiative, the fellows program will be made up of African researchers, including university faculty or individuals in equivalent roles at African research organizations. The U-M African Studies Center will host the fellows and support their professional development.
MIDAS is recruiting candidates and connecting the program with similar AI research initiatives aimed at benefiting African researchers with the help of several research organizations at U-M and in Africa.
These partner organizations will also be represented at a symposium on AI in science and engineering at U-M in March.
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