September 2025

Welcome to the September edition of the Data Science and AI Hub newsletter!

September is here, and we’re kicking off the fall semester with momentum. To close out August, we hosted a successful Data Science & AI Expo that brought together researchers, students, and partners from across campus to share resources and spark new collaborations.

Looking ahead, our AI and Higher Education Webinar Series continues this month with a thought-provoking session on September 16 at noon, an opportunity to explore the impact of AI on teaching, learning, and the future of higher education. Learn more below.

WiADS 2025 registration is now open! Join us on November 3rd to celebrate and amplify the voices of women, non-binary, and gender-diverse individuals in AI and data science. We’re now accepting talk abstracts from women, non-binary, and gender-diverse individuals of all backgrounds, at all experience levels. Whether you have a story, research, or perspective to share, we want to hear from you. Fill out our interest form to receive updates, suggest speakers, or join the planning committee. Abstracts are due by September 15th!

Share Your Interest: DSAI-Hub Computer Vision Event with Honeywell Aerospace
On October 22 (9:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Northrop Lindahl Room), the DSAI-Hub will host a half-day workshop on computer vision with partners from Honeywell Aerospace. The event will feature lightning talks from UMN faculty, industry perspectives, and opportunities to explore collaboration.We’d like to hear from you—whether you’re interested in giving a short lightning talk (3–5 minutes) or simply attending and engaging in the discussion. Complete the interest form here

Help shape the LodeStar Data Hub: LodeStar is a new website dedicated to cyberinfrastructure resources across the university. The site will be expanding over time & is currently under development. We would like your input regarding what you would like to see on a site that connects researchers at the University of Minnesota with data storage, computing, and expert guidance. Complete this input form to share your thoughts!

The Data Science and AI Hub continues to grow, connect, and lead across campus and beyond. We encourage you to share this newsletter with others who may be interested in our monthly updates.

 

Featured Article/Celebrating Success 

 

Submit a talk Abstract for WiADS 2025!

Join the Data Science and AI Hub for an empowering day dedicated to amplifying the voices of women, non-binary, and gender-diverse individuals in AI and data science. Engage in insightful talks, compelling storytelling, and meaningful connections with leaders in AI and data science. From the future of AI to pressing issues in data ethics, our speakers will offer perspectives that educate, challenge, and inspire. Join a supportive, community-focused event where connection, collaboration, and celebration take center stage, fostering inspiration and shared growth.  

Talk Submissions: Interested in sharing your work, research, or story at WiADS 2025? We welcome talk proposals from women, non-binary, and gender-diverse individuals of all backgrounds and experience levels working in AI and data science. Submit a proposal today.

 

 

ISC Student Cluster Competition

University students from around the world are invited to compete in the ISC Student Cluster Competition, showcasing their HPC and AI skills in a spirited environment. Co-organized by ISC and the HPC-AI Advisory Council, the event offers both virtual and in-person formats. August 1, 2025 - Team Submission is Open and November 14, 2025 - Submissions Ends.

The virtual segment allows teams to run benchmarks and HPC applications on world-class systems like ROMEO (URCA) and Bridges-2 (PSC). The in-person competition, held during the ISC High Performance Conference, challenges ten selected teams to build and run their own clusters on-site.

This year’s applications will focus on bioscience research, giving students hands-on experience with real-world scientific challenges.

Learn more about ISC25 Student Cluster Competition
For questions, please contact [email protected]

 

Be the Star of Our Community Corner Spotlight! 

The DSAI Community Corner has proudly showcased incredible individuals both within and beyond our university, celebrating their remarkable contributions to data science and AI.

In the past, we were thrilled to feature inspiring individuals like Dr. Jenna Marquard, whose work on human-centered AI has advanced how technology supports healthcare decision-making, and Zhenong Jin, a researcher whose innovative approaches to climate and agricultural data have sparked cross-disciplinary collaborations. We also spotlighted Ayisha Tabbassum, a dynamic external speaker at our WiADS conference, whose expertise in AI and data systems inspired new ideas and connections across our community.

Now, we’re inviting you to join this growing tradition.

Are you—or someone you know—pushing the boundaries in data science, AI, or interdisciplinary research? Whether you’re an internal member of our university community or an external collaborator making an impact through our events or programs, we’d love to feature you in our upcoming newsletters as part of the 2025 Community Corner Spotlight series.

Being in the spotlight offers you the chance to:

  • Share your innovative work and story with a wide, engaged audience.
  • Inspire others through your insights, tools, and vision for the future.
  • Celebrate the connections and contributions that drive the DSI forward.

Let us know if you’d like to be featured or nominate someone who’s making an impact. This is your chance to shine and help us showcase the amazing talent and innovation that defines the DSAI Hub community.

Submit your interest to Leah Saaristo at [email protected]. Let’s celebrate the diverse voices that make the Data Science and AI Hub extraordinary!

View Previous Spotlights

Initiative Updates

 

Update on DSAI Seed Grant Program

The DSAI Seed Grant Program is currently on pause, and new proposals are not being accepted. Over the years, these grants have supported collaborative, impactful research across the University of Minnesota. While funding is not available right now, the DSAI remains committed to advancing interdisciplinary data science research and anticipates re-opening or reimagining this opportunity in the future.

Visit our website for the latest updates

 

 

Research Spotlight

 

Title: Leveraging Large Foundation Models for Semantic Mapping of University Buildings by Robot Dog

Principal Investigator and Collaborator Information: 
Prof. Karthik Desingh, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, UMN. 
Prof. Mark Wehde, Chair of Mayo Clinic Engineering, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Mayo Clinic 
College of Medicine and Science, and fellow in the Mayo Clinic Academy of Educational Excellence

Abstract: Foundation models, such as Large Language Models (LLMs), Visual Language Models (VLMs), and the Segment Anything Model (SAM), have revolutionized reasoning and decision-making in the digital realm, leveraging extensive datasets for pretraining and fine-tuning. However, translating these advancements to the physical world—creating autonomous robots capable of perceiving, reasoning, and interacting in unstructured indoor environments—remains a significant challenge. This proposal seeks to develop a novel pipeline for semantic mapping of university buildings using the Boston Dynamics Spot Robot Dog (see Figure), integrating foundational CV and NLP models with human-in-the-loop interactions. Semantic mapping for indoor environments involves constructing an environment map populated with hierarchical semantic information, such as room types, objects, and their spatial relationships. While this technique is essential and has been studied extensively in robotics to enable robots to perform autonomous tasks like object retrieval or inspection, the state-of-the-art methods rely heavily on expert intervention and lack robust tools for scalable implementation. By leveraging foundational models, this project aims to enhance the semantic mapping process through a hybrid system where a human operator refines foundational model outputs, grounding them in real-world sensor data and the robot’s physical context. Additionally, we will incorporate additional structure to understand static and dynamic semantic locations (e.g., chair vs. staircase) for future map updates. This semantic map will serve as a queryable representation of the environment, enabling autonomous execution of tasks such as object localization, fetch and retrieval of objects, route planning, and remote inspections. Over time, the map will adapt to environmental changes with reduced human intervention, improving the robot’s autonomy. The proposed research represents a timely and transformative approach to bridging the gap between digital and physical domains, with applications not only extending to service robots but also to facility management and intelligent infrastructure monitoring.

Events

 

AI and Higher Education Webinar with Dr. Scott Latham

When: Tuesday, September 16, 12:00 PM CT 
Where: Online (Zoom link after RSVP)

 

Join the DSI for the AI and Education Webinar Series – Register Today!

The University of Minnesota’s Data Science and AI Hub (DSAI) invites you to the AI and Education Webinar Series. Join Dr. Scott Latham will expand on his controversial essay that ran in the Chronicle of Higher Education this past spring entitled "Are We Ready for the AI University?” 

This free, virtual event promises valuable insights into the future of AI in education.

AI and Higher Education Webinar with Danny Oppenheimer

When: Monday, October 6th, 12:00 PM CT 
Where: Online (Zoom link after RSVP)

 

Join the DSI for the AI and Education Webinar Series – Register Today!

the next session in the AI and Education Webinar Series. Carnegie Mellon professor Danny Oppenheimer will present Scaffolding AI Use in Educational Settings: A Case Study in Collaborative Learning. 

This free, virtual event will explore how guided approaches can help students use AI productively, with evidence-based insights for assignment and curriculum design in AI-enabled classrooms.

Women in AI & Data Science (WiADS) Conference

When: November 3rd, 2025 at 09:00 AM 
Where: McNamara Alumni Center, University of Minnesota & Virtual 

 

The Women in AI & Data Science (WiADS) Conference 2025 is coming! Join us on November 3, 2025, at the McNamara Alumni Center, University of Minnesota, with virtual access available, for a day celebrating the voices of women, women-identifying, and non-binary professionals, academics, and students shaping the future of AI and data science.

Call for Speakers: Submit your research, projects, or insights by September 15, 2025, to inspire and engage our vibrant community. Submit an abstract

Early Bird Registration: Now open! Virtual attendance is free, but we highly recommend joining in person to experience live sessions, networking, and the full energy of the day. Register & stay updated

Be part of a day dedicated to innovation, collaboration, and amplifying diverse voices in AI and data science.

 

Data Discovery Across Departments 

Events in other departments/initiatives/institutions - (External (Non-DSAI Hub Events)

 

International Institute for Biosensing Lecture Series: Using Neural Signals to Optimize Neuromodulation Therapies to Treat Neurological Disease

When: September 8th, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM 
Where: Walter Library

 

Professor Tay Netoff, Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering. The Netoff lab is developing novel approaches for optimizing electrical stimulation to maximize outcomes for each patient.

Learn more and Register

 

 

RCC Show & Tell: Gemini and Its Uses in Google WorkSpace

When: September 30th, 2025 at 3:00 PM  
Where: Zoom link & calendar invitation  (This will not be recorded)

 

RCC will do an informal walk through for Gemini uses that we've encountered in our daily work. Join in and contribute as this will be an effort to learn and collaborate with others.

To gain access to Gemini before the meeting, fill out the opt-in form available for iOS and Android devices.

Google Gemini is an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant available to all University of Minnesota students, faculty, and staff systemwide. Gemini is one of the University's licensed generative AI tools.

Learn more about Gemini and its uses at DSAI’s Gemini site & OIT's Gemini site.

 

 

MnTech Talent 2025: The Moment is Now

When: October 3rd, 2025  
Where: Best Buy HQ

 

Minnesota has always been a place where bold ideas take root—and where talent rises to meet them. As a headquarters economy with a rich history in technology and innovation, we’ve thrived by adapting, leading, and building together.

Now, we face a defining moment. The rise of agentic AI isn’t just changing how we work—it’s redefining what it means to be a leader, employer, community partner, educator, and advocate. The choices we make today will shape Minnesota’s workforce for years to come.

On Friday, October 3 at Best Buy HQ, 250 tech-focused leaders from across industries will come together to highlight innovations, share best practices, and build community. Breakout sessions will explore the following core concentrations:

  • AI & the Evolving Workforce – How emerging technologies are reshaping work, skills, and opportunity—and what it means for your organization.
  • Expanding and Strengthening Talent Pipelines – Building inclusive pathways that prepare and connect more people to tech careers.
  • Retain, Develop, and Adapt – Creating strategies that grow talent from within and position teams to thrive through change.

With 9 breakout sessions, an executive panel, a keynote speaker, and dedicated networking and exhibitor engagement, this is where Minnesota’s top employers, educators, and innovators unite to meet the moment—and lead what’s next.

Register here 

Vision-based Industrial Inspection (VISION'25)

When: October 19th, 2025 at 9:00 - 17:00 HAST (UTC−10:00) 
Where: TBD @ ICCV 2025, Honolulu, Hawaii

 

The 3rd Workshop on Vision-based Industrial Inspection (VISION'25) will be held at ICCV 2025 on October 19th in Hawaii. Following the success of VISION'23 @ CVPR and VISION'24 @ ECCV, this workshop brings together researchers, industry leaders, and practitioners to explore the latest innovations in vision-based industrial inspection. Attendees can look forward to keynote talks, technical sessions, and excellent networking opportunities with experts in the field.

Aims and Scope:

The VISION workshop provides a platform for exchanging cutting-edge research and addressing emerging practical challenges in vision-based industrial inspection. Through keynote talks, technical presentations, and challenge competitions, the workshop aims to:

  • Bring together researchers from interdisciplinary communities related to computer vision-based inspection.
  • Connect academic researchers with industry practitioners to align recent research advances with current industrial needs.

 

Current Organizing Committee:

  • Shancong Mou, Zirui Liu and Wan Wang (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)
  • Juan Du (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
  • Hao Yan (Arizona State University)
  • Gokberk Cinbis (Middle East Technical University)

 

International Institute for Biosensing Lecture Series: Ethics of Robotics in Healthcare with Special Consideration for Women

When: November 10th, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM 
Where: Walter Library  

 

Professor Catherine McCarty, Associate Dean for Research at the Medical School, Duluth campus, University of Minnesota. Professor McCarty started her research career as the Head of the Epidemiology Research Unit at the University of Melbourne. During her eight years in this position, she led population-based studies of vision impairment in Australia, India, and Hong Kong. Upon returning to the US, Professor McCarty was the Principal Investigator for the Marshfield Clinic Personalized Medicine Research Project and conducted research in the areas of genetic epidemiology, pharmacogenetics, and community engagement related to biobanking. Professor McCarty currently conducts mixed-methods research in bioethics and rural health.

Learn more and Register

Learning Resources

 

OIT Training Series: Generative AI & Gemini 

Attend the OIT hosted training series for Gemini and Generative AI. 

 

Explore GenAI+U: A Student Learning Experience

You’ve probably already come across generative AI (GenAI) in your daily life—whether through tools like Grammarly, Otter.ai, or even ChatGPT. Opinions on GenAI range from skepticism to enthusiasm, and that’s okay.

The GenAI+U learning experience isn’t about telling you how to use AI—it’s about helping you become an effective, ethical, and responsible user. With short 30-minute lessons, real-world examples, and interactive case studies, you’ll build critical skills to thoughtfully engage with AI in academics and everyday life.

Start exploring GenAI+U

Funding Opportunities and Deadline

 

If you're interested in exploring these or other data science opportunities, whether it's finding the right team, preparing your submission, or partnering with industry on federal and state funding initiatives, please reach out—we’re here to help!

  • NVIDIA Academic Research Grant Opportunity - NVIDIA is requesting proposals from academic researchers in the areas of Generative AI: Training and Model Development, Generative AI: Alignment and Inference, or Robotics and Edge AI. Cloud computing or hardware resources are available to awarded projects. Rolling deadline
  • Verticals-enabling Intelligent Network Systems (VINES) - NSF: The VINES program seeks to support both fundamental research and verticals-driven technology development, demonstration, and translation activities that will lead to leaps in performance and capabilities of next generation (NextG) advanced intelligent network systems that span the user-edge-core-cloud continuum. Track 2 proposals due September 25, 2025.
  • New Generation of Glucose Control Technologies Incorporating AI/ML Tools/Strategies - NIH, NIDDK. Research for more effective open- and closed-loop diabetes control systems. This may include research that addresses: 1) innovation of sensing relevant analytes/physiologic signals; 2) novel formulation and delivery of hormones; 3) artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML)-driven tools/algorithms; and 4) digital twin modeling to augment decision support and automated control systems with the goal of improving glycemic control, reducing burden of care, and enhancing quality of life of people with T1D. Due Oct. 1, 2025 (Note BAA not out yet, look for it to drop on Sept. 1)
  • USDA-NIFA-AFRI Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Foundational and Applied Science Program The AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program supports grants in six AFRI priority areas to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture. The six priority areas are: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities. Download the RFA (Opens PDF). Due dates vary depending on the program. The Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment (BNRE) programs have due dates in October 2025.
  • NSF Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Science (SCH) (NSF 25-542) This solicitation is a collaboration between NSF and the NIH. The Smart Health program supports innovative, high-risk/high-reward research with the promise of disruptive transformations in biomedical and public health research. The work to be funded by this solicitation must make fundamental scientific or engineering contributions to two or more disciplines, such as computer or information sciences, engineering, mathematical sciences, statistics, social, behavioral, or cognitive sciences to improve fundamental understanding of human biological, biomedical, public health and/or health-related processes and address a key health problem. Full Proposal Deadline: October 3, 2025.
  • Collaborations in Artificial Intelligence and Geosciences (CAIG)  - NSF: The NSF Directorate for Geosciences (GEO), in partnership with the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), seeks to address grand challenge problems in the geosciences through innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) methods. AI is defined here as any computer analysis where the results are algorithmically refined without human intervention. See the solicitation for three priority goals. The full proposal deadline is February 4, 2026.
  • Measurement Science and Engineering (MSE) Research Grant Programs - NIST: To support activities that develop, expand, strengthen, or sustain NIST partnership programs and/or support the conduct of research or a recipient's portion of collaborative research in a variety of areas including, but not limited to: Metrology; Standards; Nanotechnology; Artificial Intelligence; Advanced Communications; Advanced Manufacturing; Deadline: Rolling
  • Fundamental AI Research - Army Contracting Command Rock Island: The Army Artificial Intelligence Integration Center (AI2C) is seeking artificial intelligence research and development whitepapers and proposals in support of new technologies and translational research-based approaches that support the identification, alignment, and exploitation of basic, applied, and advanced research. The army is interested in Autonomous platforms, AI/ML decision support fundamental research, Human-AI integration, novel visualization and synthetic environment approaches to enable improved training, distributed AI, and foundational AI and data algorithms. Deadline: Rolling

 

Open Positions, Assistantships, and Internships

 

New Openings

  • Data Scientist, Risk ML - We are looking for a Data Scientist to join our Risk Machine Learning team. This team is responsible for building processes to root out high-risk activity across the Square platform of products. This role will own pieces like managing top level Risk KPIs, establishing core operational metrics and making improvements through both complex analyses and machine learning solutions.
  • Postdoctoral Fellow: AI and Child Development, Harvard Graduate School of Education  - The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow to join Dr. Ying Xu’s research group in conducting interdisciplinary research at the intersection of AI, Child Development, and Education. This is a two-year, in-person position based in Cambridge, MA, with the possibility of renewal pending funding availability.
  • Postdoc Positions, Computational Quantum Science Lab (EPFL) - The Computational Quantum Science Lab researches, develops, and promotes a broad range of advanced computational techniques to study quantum phenomena.In addition to numerical approaches based on classical computers, novel algorithms to simulate quantum processes and suitable for near-term quantum devices are also being developed. Applications are reviewed at the beginning of October
  • Assistant Professor of Communication in Social Media and Strategic Communication, CalPoly - Full-time, academic-year, tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor with a specialization in social media strategy and analytics. We especially welcome candidates whose work intersects with one or more of the following areas: crisis and risk communication, health communication, and human-machine communication (particularly Artificial Intelligence).

 

Still Open 

  • Future Product Innovation Research Intern, HCI Creativity: Toyota Research Institute - This internship opportunity falls within the Human-Centered AI Division (HCAI). We are seeking a highly motivated and versatile PhD research intern to join our Future Product Innovation team and open up the boundaries on what is possible with Generative AI technologies in the domain of narrative-driven design and future scenario generation. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in multi-media and immersive technologies, with demonstrated interest in design and generative AI.
  • Research Associate - SoarTech (An Accelint Company) - We are looking for skilled and motivated individuals for internships and residency positions  to help us tackle the tough problems within the Artificial Intelligence (AI) research space. At SoarTech, you will assist the Scientific team with both the technical and non-technical responsibilities required throughout project proposal efforts.
  • Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor, AI & Society - The new AIS department was created with the goal of creating AI systems that are designed to be built by society, for society. We seek to upend the dominant approach where AI systems are built with accuracy as the primary metric and then “fine tuned” for societal considerations. A successful candidate is expected to contribute to our initial attempts to make this vision a reality. To that end, we are looking for candidates who can operate effectively in a team environment with a diverse community of students and faculty, and who share and want to help shape our vision for a new department in the field of AI and Society. 

Social Media/Website Links

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