NSF AI grant $1.8M: a pipeline of "AI consultants" to help researchers adopt AI (University of Oklahoma)

The NSF awarded about $1,800,000 to the University of Oklahoma's "OneOklahoma Cyberinfrastructure Initiative AI Consultants (OneOCII-AIC)" (NSF Award 2538234; program: Information Technology Research; October 2025 – September 2028).

Per the abstract, AI is increasingly crucial across a broadening array of disciplines and applications. To address this, the University of Oklahoma is creating a pipeline of AI consultants — both professional and student — to boost AI expertise and enable access to AI resources for researchers who might not otherwise use AI. An initial cohort of 91 research teams from nine Oklahoma institutions (including three PhD-granting and four master's-granting universities) receives consulting. The outcomes ultimately aim to support thousands of researchers nationwide — undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, staff, and faculty — who need this capability.

The project's objectives include establishing AI consultants focused on enabling AI-based investigations by researchers who want to use AI but are not yet fully doing so. The consultants provide AI training statewide and nationally on AI adoption and on using state and national AI resources. Professional consultants mentor student consultants, both to demonstrate workforce-development feasibility and to maximize consultant value. An AI-consultant workforce training program is an important output, encouraging adoption nationwide. Formative and summative evaluation demonstrate the approach's value.