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UVA to Co-Lead $15M DOE Research Center Advancing AI-Assisted Physics Simulations
The University of Virginia has been selected to help lead a new $15 million research center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration. The Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program (PSAAP) Center will advance AI-assisted physics simulations with critical applications for defense and national security.
The center, funded through 2030, will be led by Professor Xinfeng Gao in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). Stephen Baek, associate professor in the School of Data Science, will serve as co-principal investigator.
UVA joins a small group of peer institutions—among them MIT, the University of Michigan, the University of Florida, and UC San Diego—in receiving this highly competitive award.
“Our research will deliver AI-assisted physics simulation capabilities that expand what is possible in predictive modeling,” said Baek. “This will enable advances in critical areas of national importance, including defense and security applications.”
Launched in 2008, the DOE’s PSAAP program invests in academic teams that combine predictive science, applied mathematics, and computer science to develop advanced simulation methods. One of the main focus of the new UVA-led center will be on harnessing machine learning and artificial intelligence to accelerate, enhance, and expand predictive physics simulations to a scale beyond previously imaginable limits.
“This award reflects UVA’s growing leadership at the intersection of engineering, data science, and artificial intelligence,” said Baek. “By working alongside leading institutions, we are bringing together computational power and scientific insight to meet some of the most complex challenges of our time.”
Read the full DOE announcement here: NNSA Announces Selection of the Next Round of Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program Centers.
