Narayanan invited to assist Microsoft co-founder’s organization with research funding decisions

Narayanan

Hari Narayanan, the John H. and Gail Watson professor in Auburn University’s Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, has been invited to serve on a panel of artificial intelligence experts to make research funding decisions for the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s Distinguished Investigator program. The competitive grant program supports high-risk, high-reward research that is otherwise unlikely to receive funding through traditional sources.

Narayanan will assist the foundation in selecting individuals as Allen Distinguished Investigators, with funding for each chosen project ranging from $1 million to $1.5 million over a three-year period. The panel will select proposals that will advance artificial intelligence in three areas: machines that can read, machines that can interpret diagrams and machines that can reason about space and time.

The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation was established in 1988 by philanthropist Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft in 1975, and his sister Jody Allen. The organization seeks to fund field-changing research and has invested nearly a half billion dollars into improving communities throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.