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Research News September 2024: Preparing for an AI Future
Published on by Ruby Barcklay.
Message from Carol
Dear colleagues:
It has been a particularly busy summer at the Lab, full of planning activities and fruitful conversations. In June, we presented our Lab Plan to the Department of Energy. This plan, which represents our strategic intent with infrastructure development and research directions, rests on the priorities of our six research areas, five national user facilities, and operations teams. It also highlights our five strategic research themes, which describe how we seek to strengthen our science beyond the confines of specific programs and which we believe represent the most impactful directions for growth in the coming years and decades.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are an important part of that strategy. We see significant opportunities to accelerate scientific discovery by integrating AI, automation, and data science. With our scientific user facilities, large-scale experiments, supercomputers, expertise in science, math, and computation, AI-ready data, and partnerships, we are in a good position to take advantage of these opportunities. In this issue, you can read more about how we are collaborating as one Lab, via a series of webinars and a workshop, to better understand how our core and unique strengths can advance our scientific research and the DOE’s AI initiatives.
I very much appreciate hearing from many of you about your thoughts on how we can best position ourselves for an AI future and look forward to our continued discussion about this and other topics.
Sincerely,
Carol Burns
Deputy Laboratory Director for Research
Chief Research Officer
Webinars and a Workshop for a Winning AI Strategy
In some ways, AI seems to have come upon us rather quickly. But the Lab has been working with artificial intelligence and machine learning for a long time, laying a solid foundation for our emerging AI capabilities. To explore opportunities and strategies for pursuing AI research and AI-powered research, the DOE’s Office of Science is planning to hold AI roundtable discussions with the national labs. To help prepare for these roundtables and to further explore Berkeley Lab’s core and unique strengths in this space, the Office of the Deputy Lab Director for Research has been working with the ALDs and Lab AI experts to organize a series of webinars and a workshop to facilitate deeper discussions across the Lab on AI.
AI at Your Fingertips: Berkeley Lab’s CBORG Initiative Empowers Scientists
One year ago, the IT Division’s ScienceIT Department, which supports scientists at the Lab with their data and computation needs, began discussions in earnest about what AI tools might be most valuable to researchers at the Lab and how to make those tools available. In early August, the department introduced the CBORG AI Portal, offering researchers at the Lab access to a comprehensive set of AI models, including access to commercial AI services, Lab-hosted open models for free on-premises use, and API services and technical support so that researchers can develop their own Large Language Model-powered applications.
Berkeley Lab plays an important role in turning scientific research into successful commercial ventures. Initiatives and programs like Cyclotron Road, Cradle to Commerce, and IMPEL are designed to foster innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship by providing training, technical expertise, access to facilities, and mentorship to startups, some of which are led by Lab employees. This summer has been a particularly busy one for the Lab’s startup support activities, with IMPEL’s participation in the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Innovative Housing Showcase, Cyclotron Road’s announcement of its next cohort, and Cradle to Commerce’s first summit.
The Strategic Partnership Office (SPO)’s Contract Officers (COs) are the Lab’s only representatives authorized to submit proposals and negotiate awards with non-DOE sponsors. They work closely with Lab scientists, engineers, resource analysts (RAs), and others to submit these proposals. To avoid hiccups in bringing in funding, SPO offers tips for proposal submission, award acceptance, and project execution.
Please let Strategic Communications know when a reporter contacts you. It’s not just Lab policy; it’s best practice, and they are here to help you succeed in conveying the value of your research to reporters and their audiences.
Sign Up for I-Corps Lite Entrepreneurship Training
Interested in entrepreneurship training? Berkeley Lab’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Lite, offered by the Intellectual Property Office, will provide customer discovery training in four online sessions – plus assignments – in October and November.
The Research Compliance Office is holding an in-person Export Compliance Conference, hosted onsite at Berkeley Lab on Tuesday, Nov. 12. This interactive half-day event is designed to equip you with the knowledge and confidence to navigate the complexities of export controls.
