The Bold Challenges Initiative has awarded nearly $1 million in grants to 10 University of Michigan teams pursuing large-scale, interdisciplinary grants.

The projects receiving “Accelerate” funding range from finding ways to treat a common cause of heart disease to identifying the barriers that low-income families face when trying to utilize early-intervention programming designed for infants and toddlers with disabilities.

Many of the projects also aim to solve pressing challenges related to AI and large-scale computing. They include speeding up the process for turning quantum science discoveries into practical products and working to ensure AI systems are safe and act in ways that align with human needs.

“Projects like these are fantastic examples of what interdisciplinary team facilitation and specialized proposal development can lead to,” said Arthur Lupia, vice president for research and innovation. “Our researchers are tackling the world’s greatest challenges, and the development support initiatives like Bold Challenges offer are a key part of our university’s efforts to serve the world through research.”

The Bold Challenges “Accelerate” program offers expert consulting and financial support for activities directly related to increasing the probability of a competitive and successful proposal for a specific funding opportunity. Teams on track to submit a large-scale proposal within two years are eligible for financial support of up to $125,000.

Applications for the next round of funding are currently open and accepted on a rolling basis.

The research projects and principal investigators for the teams that received the latest funding are:

• RECAMM-HF: Rescuing Cardiac Mechanics and Metabolism in Heart Failure – Dan Beard, Carl J. Wiggers Collegiate Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology, professor of molecular and integrative physiology, of internal medicine, of emergency medicine, Medical School; and professor of biomedical engineering, Medical School and College of Engineering.
• Towards Safe and Human-Aligned Intelligent Autonomous Systems – Lei Ying, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, CoE.
• Future Infrastructures Under the Lens of Computing – Ang Chen, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, CoE.
• Temporomandibular Disorder Collaborative for Improving Patient-Centered Translational (TMD IMPACT) Research Planning Grant – Alex Dasilva, William K. and Mary Anne Najjar Endowed Professor of Oral Health Sciences and professor of dentistry, School of Dentistry; and professor of learning health sciences, Medical School.
• Quantum Photonic Integration and Deployment (QuPID) – Mackillo Kira, professor of physics, LSA; and professor of electrical engineering and computer science, CoE.
• Quantum Information Technology Transfer Entanglement Network (QITTEN): Proposal for the NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute Program – Zheshen Zhang, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, CoE.
• Center for Causal Genomics – Joshua Welch, associate professor of computational medicine and bioinformatics, Medical School; and associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, CoE.
• Proposal Development for NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute Proposal – Steve Cundiff, Harrison M. Randall Collegiate Professor of Physics, LSA; and professor of electrical engineering and computer science, CoE.
• Improving Access to Early Interventions for Children with Disabilities – Christina Weiland, Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy and professor of education, Marsal Family School of Education; and professor of public policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
• Distributed, Reconfigurable and Agile Microfactories (DREAM) Engineering Research Center – Chinedum Okwudire, professor of mechanical engineering, CoE.