AI environmental surveillance of threats to food production — one project split into separate award numbers, NSF award $2M (University of Hawaii)
NSF awarded $2,000,000 to the University of Hawaii for collaborative research on AI-enabled environmental surveillance of microbial and chemical threats to food production systems. The same project also carries an equal award to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under a separate number, showing how one project is recorded as separate awards per institution.
Grant overview (primary data)
- Award amount$2,000,000
- RecipientUniversity of Hawaii (Hawaii)
- ProgramEPSCoR RII: Focused EPSCoR Col
- Period2026-09-01 〜 2030-08-31
- FunderU.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) / NSF
Key points
- NSF Award 2614884, "AI-Enabled Environmental Surveillance of Microbial and Chemical Threats to Food Production Systems," to the University of Hawaii (HI).
- Program: EPSCoR RII: Focused EPSCoR Col. $2,000,000 obligated and estimated; period 2026-09-01 to 2030-08-31.
- The same title carries $2,000,000 to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Award 2614885) — $4,000,000 across the pair.
- Within our collection, 13 titles begin with "Collaborative Research:" and four are split across institutions — nine award numbers totaling $19,066,633.
- EPSCoR strengthens research capacity in states and territories that have historically received less NSF funding.
- Of 13 awards titled Collaborative Research, four are split across institutions, and those nine award numbers total $19,066,633.
1The prefix "Collaborative Research"
Collaborative Research at the head of a title marks a single research plan carried out in parts by several institutions. When that happens, the money is not handed to one lead organization; each participating institution receives its own award under its own number. This is the University of Hawaii's portion, and the same title appears for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under number 2614885.
2Counting by number misstates how many projects there are
Counting this structure across our collection gives 13 awards whose titles begin with "Collaborative Research:", of which four are split across several institutions. Those splits account for nine award numbers totaling $19,066,633.
The project on engineering lodging-resilient field crops through AI, biomechanics, and genomics, for instance, is divided among three institutions — the University of Idaho, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Clemson University — totaling $5,999,995. Treating one award number as one project therefore inflates the count of projects and deflates the size of each.
3The EPSCoR framework
EPSCoR in the program name is the framework through which NSF strengthens research capacity in states and territories that have historically received less of its funding, so that support does not concentrate in a few states. The pairing of Hawaii and Nebraska here has two geographically distant institutions sharing one project under that framework.
Threats to food production is also a subject where climate and crops differ by region, which gives observation at multiple sites real meaning.
Why it matters
Any analysis comparing award counts is shaped by how collaborative projects are split. Counting by number expresses the spread of participating institutions; counting by title expresses the number of projects — the two should be used for different purposes. Splits are especially common under frameworks aimed at geographic distribution, so regional totals feel the effect most.
FAQ
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Sources (primary)
Source: NSF Award Search (U.S. National Science Foundation, public domain). Amounts are the obligated amount. For privacy, we do not handle principal investigator names.
- NSF Award (original, official)
- NSF Award ID: 2614884