NSF Program on Fairness in Artificial Intelligence in Collaboration with Amazon | 20 566

Opportunity Information: Apply for 20 566

The NSF Program on Fairness in Artificial Intelligence in Collaboration with Amazon is a National Science Foundation grant opportunity designed to push forward foundational research that makes AI systems more trustworthy and more broadly acceptable in real-world use. NSF is emphasizing that AI and machine learning have already produced major benefits across the economy and in areas like safety, security, health, and wellness, but that large-scale deployment only works when people and institutions can trust the systems they are being asked to use. In this program, "trustworthiness" is closely tied to whether AI systems can be shown to be fair, transparent, explainable, and accountable, especially when these systems are used to support or influence high-impact decisions across different communities and demographic groups.

A central motivation of the program is the recognition that widely used AI technologies, including face recognition, speech recognition, and language technologies, can behave differently across populations and contexts, particularly when embedded in decision-support tools. The opportunity calls for new research that can better assess, demonstrate, and improve fairness in these kinds of systems. NSF and Amazon are jointly supporting research that strengthens the scientific and technical foundations behind fairness in AI, with the larger goal of enabling AI systems that are accepted in practice and can be deployed responsibly to address major societal challenges.

The scope of research topics is broad and includes, but is not limited to, transparency and explainability methods, accountability mechanisms, identification of adverse biases and harmful downstream effects, and practical mitigation strategies. It also supports work on algorithmic advances and new fairness objectives, along with rigorous approaches to validating and measuring fairness in operational settings. Importantly, the program frames fairness not only as the avoidance of bias, but also in terms of broad accessibility and utility, meaning AI systems should be usable and beneficial across different segments of society rather than optimized for only a narrow set of users or environments.

This opportunity is positioned as fundamental computer science research aimed at theories, techniques, and methodologies that go beyond current capabilities, while still being motivated by requirements and constraints found in real systems. It is not limited to a single discipline or approach. Instead, it explicitly highlights AI as an interdisciplinary field and encourages contributions from areas such as computer science, information science, engineering, statistics, mathematics, cognitive science, and psychology. The underlying idea is that fairness in AI is not just a technical tuning problem; it often requires insights about human behavior, measurement, uncertainty, and how systems interact with people and institutions.

Although Amazon provides partial funding, the announcement makes a point of stating that Amazon will not be involved in selecting which proposals receive awards. The intent is to preserve NSF independence in merit review while still leveraging a partnership that reflects industry relevance and practical impact.

The program also ties directly to NSF's broader mission of expanding participation in STEM. It encourages proposals from investigators at institutions that serve groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines, and it welcomes both single-institution projects and multi-institution collaborations. In other words, beyond advancing the state of the art in fair AI, the program is also structured to help broaden who gets to lead and shape the next generation of trustworthy AI research.

Key administrative details from the opportunity listing include that it is a discretionary NSF grant under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category (CFDA 47.070 and 47.075). The opportunity number is 20-566, it was created April 16, 2020, and the original closing date was July 13, 2020. The listing anticipated around 10 awards, and the award ceiling is shown as 0, which typically indicates that a fixed cap was not specified in the public listing and applicants would need to follow the solicitation guidance for budget expectations and allowable costs. Eligibility is noted as "Others (see text field...)," signaling that applicants should consult the detailed NSF solicitation for the full eligibility rules and any special conditions.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NSF Program on Fairness in Artificial Intelligence in Collaboration with Amazon" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.070, 47.075.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 16, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 13, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 20 566

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