Moise Y. Safra Collaborative Research Award at the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University

• The program will offer one application cycle each year in the fall with funding to start in January.
• Application deadlines and notification dates will be announced with each call. 

All applications must be completed and submitted through the Kempner Grants Portal. Detailed application instructions are available below and on the grants management portal.  

The project proposal portal will open for submissions on October 13, 2026. Proposals will be accepted until 11:59PM on November 20, 2026. All application deadlines and dates are based on Eastern Standard Time.

Proposals must:

• Describe an active or planned research collaboration between the Kempner Institute applicant and a researcher at an Israeli academic institution.
• Explain why the participation of both collaborators is important to the proposed work.
• Advance the Kempner Institute’s mission to understand intelligence in natural and artificial systems
• Support substantive scholarly exchange between the institutions
• Comply with the Kempner Institute’s current Open Science Policy: all code, data, model weights, and other project outputs must be made freely and publicly available through an open-source platform on or before publication. 

Proposals are welcome in the following areas:

• Foundations of intelligence: Mathematical and computational models of intelligence, cognitive theories of intelligence, and the neurobiological basis of intelligence.
• New AI/ML methods or applications: Projects with clearly defined methodological, analytical, or performance advances. This may include new methods with explicit evaluation benchmarks, scalable applications that demonstrate methodological novelty, or rigorous studies that generate insight into how AI/ML systems function.

For the lead applicant and principal Israeli collaborator:

• Name and email address
• Academic title and institutional affiliation
• Kempner affiliation
• Professional website

The lead applicant will administer the award and serve as the primary contact.

Maximum length: 500 words

Include:

• Project title
• Project and objectives (250 words): Describe the scientific question, approach, and key objectives.
• Collaboration (75 words): Describe each collaborator’s role, why both are needed, and the planned scholarly exchange.
• Expected impact (75 words): Describe the project’s anticipated contribution or innovation.
• Mission alignment (100 words): Explain how the project advances understanding of intelligence in natural or artificial systems.

Applicants may also include one optional page of figures and a reference list. These do not count toward the word limit.

Provide an itemized budget of up to $50,000 in direct costs. Assessment will be covered in addition to direct cost on allowable expenses. 

The justification, not to exceed 200 words, should identify the people, activities, and expenses to be supported and explain why the expenses are necessary and how the award will strengthen the collaboration and scholarly exchange.

Include a letter from the principal Israeli collaborator confirming their participation, role, and planned contributions. The letter should also identify any concurrent funding being sought or obtained for complementary activities.

Applications will be reviewed first for:

• Scientific merit and feasibility
• Alignment with the Kempner Institute’s research mission

Applications meeting this threshold will then be evaluated on the strength of the collaboration and the extent to which the project supports substantive scholarly exchange. 

Additional consideration will be given to proposals that:

• Establish or significantly deepen a collaboration
• Create opportunities for intellectual exchange for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, or other early-career researchers
• Are coordinated with Israeli collaborators seeking complementary funding

Funds will be administered through Harvard University and are subject to Harvard policies. Material changes to the project, personnel, budget, or award period require advance approval from the Kempner Institute.  

Awardees must submit a final report of no more than two pages within 90 days of the award end date. The report should include:

• Work completed and key findings
• Research visits, events, or exchanges supported
• Presentations, publications, courses, or other resulting activities
• Project participants supported
• Links to code, data, model weights, or other project outputs
• Anticipated next steps for the collaboration

Awardees must acknowledge the award in publications, presentations, websites, and other materials resulting from the project using the following language: 

“This work was supported by the Moise Y. Safra Collaborative Research Award at the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University.”