29 Oct 2024

The new Tayebati Postdoctoral Fellowship Program will support leading postdocs to bring cutting-edge AI to bear on research in scientific discovery or music.

The MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing has announced the launch of a new program to support postdocs conducting research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and particular disciplines. 

The Tayebati Postdoctoral Fellowship Program will focus on AI for addressing the most challenging problems in select scientific research areas, and on AI for music composition and performance. The program will welcome an inaugural cohort of up to six postdocs for a one-year term, with the possibility of renewal for a second term. 

Supported by a $20 million gift from Parviz Tayebati, an entrepreneur and executive with a broad technical background and experience with startup companies, the program will empower top postdocs by providing an environment that facilitates their academic and professional development and enables them to pursue ambitious discoveries. “I am proud to support a fellowship program that champions interdisciplinary research and fosters collaboration across departments. My hope is that this gift will inspire a new generation of scholars whose research advances knowledge and nurtures innovation that transcends traditional boundaries,” says Tayebati.

"Artificial intelligence holds tremendous potential to accelerate breakthroughs in science and ignite human creativity," says Dan Huttenlocher, dean of the Schwarzman College of Computing and Henry Ellis Warren Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “This new postdoc program is a remarkable opportunity to cultivate exceptional bilingual talent combining AI and another discipline. The program will offer fellows the chance to engage in research at the forefront of both AI and another field, collaborating with leading experts across disciplines. We are deeply thankful to Parviz for his foresight in supporting the development of researchers in this increasingly important area.”

Candidates accepted into the program will work on projects that encompass one of six disciplinary areas: biology/bioengineering, brain and cognitive sciences, chemistry/chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, music, and physics. Each fellow will have a faculty mentor in the disciplinary area as well as in AI.

The Tayebati Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is a key component of a larger focus of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing aimed at fostering innovative research in computing. As part of this focus, the college has three postdoctoral programs, each of which provides training and mentorship to fellows, broadens their research horizons, and helps them develop expertise in computing, including its intersection with other disciplines.

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The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing has launched the Tayebati Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which will support leading postdocs to bring cutting-edge AI to bear on research in scientific discovery or music.