A large, multi-institution collaboration led by Northwestern University has been awarded a $20 million grant to develop and apply new artificial intelligence (AI) tools to astrophysics research and deep space exploration.
The highly competitive grant, jointly funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation, will establish the NSF-Simmons Sky AI Institute (SkAI, pronounced “Sky”). SkAI is one of two national AI institutes in astronomy announced today. Vicky Kalogera He is the principal investigator of the grant and director of SkAI. He is an AI expert at Northwestern University. Aggelos Katsageros He is co-principal investigator on the grant.
The new institute will bring together researchers across disciplines to develop innovative and reliable AI tools for astronomy. These tools will be used to pursue groundbreaking discoveries by analyzing large astronomy datasets, translating physics-based simulations, and more. With unprecedented large-scale astronomical surveys scheduled to launch by organizations such as the Bella C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, astronomers need smarter, more efficient tools to accelerate the mining and interpretation of increasingly large datasets. SkAI will play a key role in developing and refining these tools.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with an incredible interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team to accelerate the data-driven revolution that wide-field and deep space surveys are bringing to the field of astronomy,” said Kalogera. “We will transform our understanding of astrophysics across a huge range of scales: from stars and the ephemeral phenomena they produce, to the evolving galaxies they inhabit, to the black holes they form, to the dark regions of the universe and their cosmological origins.”
Kalogera is the Daniel I. Linzer Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy. Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Northwestern University Interdisciplinary Astrophysical Exploration and Research Center (CIERA). Katsaggeros is the Joseph Cummings Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. McCormick School of Engineeringco-director of the Arts and Sciences Research Center and professor emeritus of computer science and radiology.
“One of Northwestern’s priorities is to harness the power of data analytics and artificial intelligence, so we couldn’t be more excited about a partnership that is so aligned with our vision,” said Northwestern President Kathleen Hagerty. “Similarly, interdisciplinary innovation is central to Northwestern’s ethos. With the potential to positively impact our students, faculty, local community and the global scientific community, this collaboration checks all the boxes.”
A community that pushes boundaries
The SkAI Institute at Northwestern University includes 14 faculty members from Weinberg College and Northwestern’s School of Engineering.
“SkAI is a unique and exciting opportunity for the AI community at Northwestern and our partner institutions to push the boundaries and achieve fundamental AI breakthroughs in several scientific areas, including generative modeling, astrophysics-based interpretable architectures, and uncertainty quantification,” said Katsaggelos. “Such major advances require the synergies created by an interdisciplinary institute structure. As Northwestern’s first national AI institute, we will lead a transformation that will bring Northwestern to the forefront of research and technology. This is an exciting time to be an AI researcher at Northwestern.”
Located in central Illinois, SkAI brings together 83 team members from 25 partner organizations. The SkAI Institute will serve as an inclusive, interdisciplinary hub to accelerate AI astronomy research and help educate a diverse workforce.
“Illinois is already an international hub for research and technology, and our state is ideally positioned for further investment, innovation and job creation,” said U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). “I’m pleased to see NSF investing in our state through the new AI Astronomy Institute to advance scientific research and understanding in astronomy and astrophysics. Our state is ready to compete, and it’s a clear signal that we have the innovation and talent here to lead our state, our nation and the world into the future.”
“Artificial intelligence is transforming how we approach the world,” said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “AI for the Sky: The SkAI Institute will enable Illinois to lead the way in exploring the potential of this technology and its applications to astrophysics. Illinois’ world-class research universities have long partnered with NSF on the cutting edge of next-generation technologies, and thanks to collaborations like SkAI, our state will continue to lead the industries of the future.”
Northwestern’s key partners are the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the National Supercomputing Applications Center, with other partners including Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Adler Observatory. University of Wisconsin-MadisonThe team is made up of researchers from diverse backgrounds, including experts in astrophysics, fundamental AI, education, ethics, software engineering, and the arts.
“The SkAI Research Hub will leverage Northwestern’s interdisciplinary strengths to address some of the most profound questions in astrophysics,” said Eric Perreault, Northwestern’s vice provost for research. “Led by Professors Kalogera and Katsageros, this effort brings together world-class expertise to accelerate discoveries and position Northwestern as a leader in AI-driven research. The hub’s impact is expanded by key regional partners such as the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as collaborators including University of Illinois at Chicago, Adler Observatory, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and City University of Chicago. Northwestern’s commitment to interdisciplinary and interinstitutional collaboration is sure to ensure this effort is successful, accelerating groundbreaking discoveries and strengthening research excellence in the region.”
Data-driven discoveries
Over the next decade, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will launch the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which will produce the widest and deepest images of the southern sky and create the first-ever deep, multi-color movies showing the sky changing over time. The project will generate tens of terabytes of data each night and may find answers to some of the universe’s most elusive secrets, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy, the formation of galaxies, and how stars and their explosions create elements.
Surveys like LSST promise to deliver groundbreaking advances in astrophysics and cosmology, but they require researchers to process unprecedented amounts of astrophysical information. To address this extraordinary challenge, new AI tools are essential. To support this effort, the SkAI Institute works at the crossroads of astronomy and AI to develop and deliver innovations that transform the speed and reliability of simulations and optimize instrument and survey design.
“The massive amounts of data that will be collected by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and other large-scale astronomy projects in the coming years are too vast and rich to be fully explored by existing methods,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “Equipped with reliable, trustworthy AI in their toolbox, everyone from students to senior researchers will have exciting new ways to gain valuable insights that can lead to surprising discoveries that might otherwise remain buried in the data.”
Ensuring an inclusive and diverse workforce
The SkAI Lab’s goals go beyond scientific discovery and data processing: all AI tools developed within the lab will be open-sourced and available to the entire community for astronomy and other research. The new lab will also empower the entire astronomy community to work with cutting-edge AI tools to address rapidly evolving challenges and nurture a generation of ethically minded, diverse interdisciplinary leaders.
To establish an inclusive culture and foster a larger, more diverse STEM workforce, the SkAI team includes the SkAI Satellite Network of 16 regional and national university partners, including 13 minority-serving institutions and two EPSCoR (Established Programs to Stimulate Competitive Research) institutions. An intentional effort to increase representation in the fields of AI and astronomy, this work through the SkAI Satellite Network lowers access barriers for high school and college students by engaging both the network’s faculty and students in long-term mentoring and collaborations, and fostering a research and learning culture in which all members can thrive.
“Through our open source code and training workshops, we are committed to engaging with the community and meeting their needs in research, education, and career development in this exciting era of space-based AI,” Kalogera said.
Established in 2020, the National AI Institute represents a major US government commitment to fostering long-term, fundamental research in AI. Another national AI laboratory in astronomy is the NSF-Simons Cosmic AI Institute, led by the University of Texas at Austin.
