More than $1.6M will support collaborations with Brookhaven National Lab and other institutions to address complex science and technology challenges
Researchers at the State University of New York at Stony Brook (Stony Brook University) secured six inaugural awards through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Genesis Mission, a national AI-for-science initiative designed to accelerate scientific discovery and strengthen U.S. leadership in innovation, energy and national security. The awards reinforce Stony Brook University’s growing leadership in artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, engineering, physics and advanced computing, and bring more than $1.6 million in combined project funding to address complex scientific and engineering challenges.
Three projects are led by Stony Brook’s Jan C. Bernauer, Emre Salman and Shikui Chen and will bring nearly $1.44 million directly to Stony Brook and support collaborations with Brookhaven National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Indiana University and GE Vernova. Additionally, Nengkun Yu, a professor in Stony Brook’s Department of Computer Science, received a subaward for an AI-enabled computational physics project led by Johns Hopkins University. Anatoly Frenkel, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, received a subaward for a project using AI to analyze catalytic reaction mechanisms. Daniel Knopf, professor in the Department of Chemistry and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, also received a subaward in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory for an automated, AI-enabled cloud chamber for constraining cloud microphysical processes in Earth system models.
The awards were announced on July 22 at the Genesis Mission Summit at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., where leaders from the U.S. Department of Energy, Congress, national laboratories, universities and industry gathered to launch the national initiative. Hendrik Hamann, chief AI scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory for Innovation, Science, and Security and professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, was one of five people who delivered Genesis Mission technical keynotes at the summit, on “How AI Is Transforming the Electrical Grid.”
The Genesis Mission is a national initiative bringing together DOE national laboratories, universities, industry and other partners to accelerate breakthroughs in energy, discovery science and national security. The initiative seeks to connect advanced computing systems, experimental facilities, AI capabilities and scientific datasets to address 21 national science and technology challenges.
The awards follow a coordinated university-wide effort that produced 89 Stony Brook submissions, including 40 university-led proposals and 49 proposals on which Stony Brook participated as a collaborating institution. Stony Brook-led submissions spanned 16 research areas and drew upon the university’s strengths in artificial intelligence, advanced computing, physics, microelectronics, energy systems, materials science and interdisciplinary research. Stony Brook was among just 278 awardees selected from more than 5,000 applications.
“The State University of New York at Stony Brook’s selection for multiple Genesis Mission awards validates our position as a national leader in expanding the scope, scale and impact of research in science and engineering by leveraging the powerful tool of AI,” said Stony Brook University President Andrea Goldsmith. “In response to an ambitious national challenge with a very tight response time, our faculty and research partners came together to develop bold, creative, interdisciplinary ideas that advance AI-driven scientific discovery. These awards reflect not only the depth and breadth of Stony Brook’s expertise and our strong partnerships with Brookhaven National Laboratory, industry and other institutions but also our commitment to preparing the next generation of scientists, engineers and innovators. By rapidly advancing the frontiers of knowledge across scientific disciplines through the use of AI, the work to be undertaken through these awards will create new opportunities for our faculty and students while also strengthening American innovation, economic competitiveness and national security.”
The six projects are:
Jan C. Bernauer
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Foundation Models for Transferable Particle Tracking in Nuclear Physics, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.
The project will develop AI foundation models that learn directly from raw particle detector data collected across multiple nuclear physics experiments. By training the models on different detector technologies, the research team aims to create more adaptable tools that can improve particle tracking across experiments while reducing the need to build a separate data-analysis system for each one. (Total Amount to Stony Brook and National Lab Partners: $750,000)
Emre Salman
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
AI-Driven Autonomous and Self-Healing Readout Electronics for Radiation-Tolerant HEP Detectors, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory and Indiana University.
The project will develop an AI-enabled framework to make microelectronics more resilient in harsh, radiation-intensive environments, with an initial focus on detector readout chips used in high-energy physics and scientific instruments. The team will demonstrate a rapid workflow that uses AI to monitor these chips, identify radiation-induced disruptions and apply carefully controlled corrections to help maintain reliable performance. (Total Amount to Stony Brook and National Lab Partners: $700,000)
Shikui Chen
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Geometry-Informed AI for Accelerated Multiphysics Co-Design of Wide-Bandgap Power Modules, in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories and GE Vernova.
The project will create an AI platform to accelerate the design and testing of advanced wide-bandgap power modules used in high-efficiency energy systems. By rapidly evaluating designs, learning across different component configurations and incorporating factors such as manufacturability, reliability and uncertainty, the platform will help researchers move from a slow, step-by-step process to a more integrated and efficient approach to engineering design. (Total Amount to Stony Brook and National Lab Partners: $723,076)
Nengkun Yu
Department of Computer Science
Neuro-Symbolic Synthesis of Verified Computational Physics Code for Scientific Discovery, led by Johns Hopkins University.
The project will develop an AI-assisted approach to help scientists create and adapt complex software for high-performance and quantum computing systems more efficiently. By combining AI code generation with symbolic reasoning that can verify mathematical and physical requirements, the team aims to produce scientific software that is faster to develop and more reliable. (Stony Brook Awarded $99,999)
Anatoly Frenkel
Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering
Transient Kinetics and Spectroscopy for Agentic Digital Twins to Upgrade Domestic Alkane Feedstocks into Value-Added Chemicals, in collaboration with The Pennsylvania State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and ExxonMobil Corporation
The project will develop an AI-enabled “digital twin” framework to accelerate the discovery and optimization of catalysts that convert domestically available alkane feedstocks, such as propane, into higher-value chemicals. By combining rapid transient reactor measurements with infrared, Raman, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, the team will train AI agents to predict catalyst performance, identify active structures and reaction mechanisms, and guide subsequent experiments. The Frenkel group will contribute advanced operando X-ray spectroscopy and machine-learning-assisted analysis to track how catalysts restructure under working conditions. The team aims to demonstrate catalyst evaluation up to 20 times faster than conventional methods while maintaining accurate predictions of activity and product selectivity. (Total amount to the team: $750,000.)
Daniel Knopf
Department of Chemistry and the School of Atmospheric and Marine Sciences
An Automated, Multimodal-AI-Enabled Cloud Chamber for Constraining Cloud Microphysical Processes in Earth System Models, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory
By controlling an advanced cloud chamber with an AI framework, scientists will create specific cloud conditions on demand, easily maintain those conditions, and collect more reliable data.
“What makes these awards so significant is how clearly they showcase Stony Brook’s multidisciplinary leadership in artificial intelligence,” said Mónica Bugallo, interim vice president for research and innovation at Stony Brook University. “Our faculty are applying AI to challenges of national importance across an incredible range of disciplines, from modernizing microelectronics and power networks to decoding cosmic physics and pioneering neuro-symbolic models for high-energy physics. Their work positions Stony Brook to drive the next era of AI innovation and advance U.S. leadership in science, technology and national security.”
Researchers Advance AI Across Physics, Microelectronics and Energy Systems
The three Stony Brook-led projects apply artificial intelligence to nuclear physics, radiation-tolerant microelectronics and next-generation power technologies. The principal investigators described how their research could accelerate AI-enabled scientific discovery and innovation:
“With this award, our team will develop AI foundation models that learn directly from raw detector signals and can be adapted across different experiments and detector technologies,” said Bernauer. “By combining expertise and data from Stony Brook, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory, we aim to improve the precision of particle tracking while building tools that are more flexible, efficient and broadly reusable. This could fundamentally change how data are analyzed at current and future nuclear physics facilities.”
“We are honored to receive this award and to collaborate with GE Vernova Advanced Research and Sandia National Laboratories on this important initiative,” said Chen. “This project will combine geometry-informed artificial intelligence with advanced multiphysics modeling to dramatically accelerate the design of next-generation power modules. We hope the research will lead to more efficient, reliable and manufacturable power electronics that strengthen future energy and communication systems.”
“This project seeks to develop a new AI-enabled approach for making detector readout electronics more resilient by combining radiation characterization with intelligent, real-time fault detection and recovery,” said Salman. “This award will enable our multidisciplinary team to establish the experimental and technological foundation for a new generation of reliable, autonomous microelectronics that can support future DOE scientific missions and other harsh-environment applications.”
Strengthening National Research Leadership
The DOE’s Genesis Mission awards reinforce Stony Brook’s growing leadership in artificial intelligence and quantum technologies while expanding collaborations across the Department of Energy national laboratory system, academia and industry. Together, these partnerships position the university to accelerate scientific discovery and pursue future research opportunities at national scale.
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