Deadline to Apply: December 8, 2023, 11:59 pm

PLI Seed Grant Proposal Submission form

With the support of the Office of the Provost, Princeton Language and Intelligence (PLI) is pleased to announce the first-year call for proposals for the PLI Seed Grant Program. We seek to help enable and support use of large AI models in a variety of academic disciplines in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, or Engineering. A typical grant will support research, but proposals that lead to new research infrastructure, formulation of new research directions, better-trained workforce etc., are also welcome.  (Note that PLI will have a separate rolling application process for time on its GPU cluster for research projects.)

PI Eligibility

All Princeton faculty are invited to apply. A faculty member can participate on at most two proposals.

Program Size 

Up to \$600,000 in total will be distributed for year one.  Seed grants will fall into three buckets: \$0-30K, \$31-60K, and \$61-110K, and should be used up by August 31, 2025 (projects may finish sooner).

Review Criteria

The PLI Executive Committee will evaluate the proposals on the basis of:

  • Quality, originality, and potential impact (on the campus and/or the field of study)

  • Feasibility of achieving project goals

  • Likelihood that the research outcomes (if any) will be widely disseminated (i.e., journals, media outlets etc.). 

  • Likelihood that the project is not a one-off and will lead to a string of positive outcomes or other funding.

Examples of what might be funded: 

  • research materials and supplies (datasets, annotations, etc.)

  • retreats, workshops, travel

  • support of graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and research assistants

Reporting Requirements

Funded proposals will be required to submit a final report. Awardees agree to contribute a blog post about their project for the PLI Blog. Additionally, a story about the project and its progress may be used more generally by PLI/Princeton.

Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions

Proposals will consist of a set of slides using the PLI template.  The first one-two slides outline aims, link to related PI papers, include a brief statement on how large AI models will advance research in some area, and provide a brief explanation of what the PI offers. Additional one-two slides show supporting schemes, figures, or formulae.

Submit proposals online through the PLI website. Complete the form on the webpage and upload the slides, using the PLI slide template, as a pdf document.

Please submit your proposal through the PLI Seed Grant Proposal Submission form on the PLI website.

Questions?  Contact PLI Project Manager, Ellen DiPippo ([email protected])

About PLI
Princeton Language and Intelligence (PLI) seeks to develop fundamental understanding of large AI models; enable their application to research and education across academic disciplines; and study societal and ethical implications of AI as well as develop methods to avert any harms. PLI is committed to promoting AI expertise and know-how in the public sphere. Member faculty hail from more than a dozen departments, representing the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and engineering.