Program Supports Translational Research in AI, Data Science, and ML

The MIT School of Engineering announced the MIT-Pillar AI Collective, a one-year pilot program funded by a gift from Pillar VC. The program will provide seed grants for projects in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science to support translational research.

The MIT-Pillar AI Collective will center on the market discovery process, advancing projects through market research, customer discovery, and prototyping.

The program will launch with the 2022-23 academic year, and grants are open only to MIT faculty and students, with an emphasis on funding for graduate students in their final year and postdocs.

“The Deshpande Center has a 20-year history of guiding new technologies toward commercialization, where they can have a greater impact,” says Shah. “This new collective will help the center expand its own impact by helping more projects realize their market potential and providing more support to researchers in the fast-growing fields of AI, machine learning, and data science.”