The Grainger College of Engineering
IBM-Illinois Discovery Accelerator Institute

IIDAI RFP 2026

IIDAI Request for Proposal 2026

The IBM-Illinois Discovery Accelerator Institute (IIDAI) is pleased to invite faculty and staff who have their academic home at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to submit proposals in response to this RFP. Below is the timeline.

  •  Proposals due: Monday, March 2, 2026, by 5:00pm Central Time 
  • Notification of selected proposals for funding: Wednesday, April 15, 2026. 

Proposals submission must follow Attachment A including Exhibit 1 template. Late submissions and submissions that do not follow the attached submission template may be returned without further review. Proposals should be submitted electronically to Ms. Noni Ledford (nledford@illinois.edu) by the deadline. 

Projects selected under this solicitation for funding are expected to begin in August 2026. Projects funded under IIDAI are subject to terms embodied in a Master Research Agreement (MRA). Key terms are summarized in a MRA terms summary. Both these documents can be requested from Ms. Ledford. All awarded project participants will be required to acknowledge that they have read and will comply with terms of the MRA.

IIDAI has defined research themes of high interest for which proposals are welcomed. The research priorities are organized around three major research thrusts. These are: 

  1. Platform for AI 
  2. Quantum-Centric Supercomputing Software, Algorithms, and Applications 
  3. New Algorithms Discovery 

Proposals can be submitted by single PIs or multiple PIs from UIUC. Also, collaboration with IBMers is strongly encouraged to shape the proposals prior to submission. The people listed below can answer questions about the technical areas and help connect UIUC prospective PIs with the right IBM experts and co-PIs:

  •  Platform for AI:
       Dr. Fabio Oliveira (fabolive@us.ibm.com) 
       Prof. Deming Chen (dchen@illinois.edu
  • Quantum-Centric Supercomputing Software, Algorithms, and Applications:
       Dr. Hanhee Paik (hanhee.paik@us.ibm.com) 
       Prof. Deming Chen (dchen@illinois.edu)
  • New Algorithms Discovery:
       Dr. Hanhee Paik (hanhee.paik@us.ibm.com) 
       Prof. Andre Schleife (schleife@illinois.edu) 
       Prof. Deming Chen (dchen@illinois.edu)

For questions about the process, the MRA, and other topics, you can reach out to Ms. Noni Ledford (nledford@illinois.edu). The maximum a faculty member will be allowed to request as summer salary will be one month, independent of the number of successful proposals they develop.

Types of proposal: 
We will accept two types of proposal in this RFP:

  • New Project Proposals: Proposals for new projects that are not currently funded.
  • Continuing Project Proposals: PIs with ongoing projects funded through August 2026 that were conditionally approved for a second year are strongly encouraged to submit Continuing Project Proposals under this RFP to apply for continuation of these projects. These proposals provide an opportunity to realign ongoing projects with IIDAI’s updated research priorities. Such proposal submissions may capitalize on results obtained thus far. Please note that ongoing projects that do not submit Continuing Project Proposals, or are not selected through evaluation of such proposals, will conclude in August 2026. No-cost-extensions will not be granted. 

Both types of submissions—new proposals and continuing project proposals—must outline a two-year research plan covering August 2026 through August 2028. Selected proposals will be funded as new two-year projects. Note that funding for the second year is contingent upon a favorable review of project progress and continued alignment of the proposed second-year work plan with IBM priorities.

We encourage PIs to indicate in their proposals an estimate of the required usage of compute resources—HPC cluster, GPUs, Quantum—to conduct the planned research. Please include this estimate in the Project Plan of Exhibit 1 template.

Reviewing process and policy: 
Each proposal will undergo a comprehensive review by at least two IBM experts in the relevant research areas and by the thrust leaders (both IBM and Illinois co-leads). If a proposal's research scope spans multiple thrust areas, experts from each relevant thrust will collaborate to review the proposal. Conflicts of interest will be managed through appropriate oversight and procedures. While the reviews focus primarily on the technical merit of the proposals, alignment with IBM priorities is a key factor in the final decision.

During the proposals review phase, if an area requiring additional approvals (based on anticipated plans for IP or data management, for example) is identified, IIDAI thrust leaders will provide PIs with guidance on how to address these concerns. 

 The proposals will be reviewed against the following criteria: 

  1. Relevance and potential impact to IBM and IIDAI research priorities 
  2. Potential for advancing the state-of-the-art given the identification of the challenges being addressed, the proposed approaches, and expected project outcomes 
  3. Consistency between proposed tasks, timeline, and milestones 
  4. Relevant experience and expertise of the team identified to undertake the project
  5. Reasonability of the scope of work and budget  

Only a subset of the submitted proposals is expected to be selected.

Funding process: 
PIs who have been informed that their proposals have been selected for funding will be provided with detailed instructions on how to complete a Research Project Agreement (RPA). The RPA will include a start date, statement of work and detailed and justified formal budget. The planned RFP schedule allows Research Assistantship appointments to be made in time for the Fall 2026 semester. 

Externships at IBM Research Centers are one of the top priorities for the institute, with approximately 12 slots available for all thrusts each summer. These externship opportunities will be awarded competitively, and PIs will be encouraged to proactively recommend eligible students who can fulfill key project responsibilities through this experience.

Please note that externship expenses do not need to be included in the project budget. However, to ensure continuous student support throughout the summer, we recommend budgeting for an 11-month, 50% Research Assistantship for those expected to stay on campus year-round: this particularly applies to junior-level graduate students, who are still developing foundational skills.

Next step: 
Attend a virtual information session led by IIDAI Co-Directors on January 30, 2026, 3:00-4:30pm Central Time, for the RFP. Email Noni Ledford (nledford@illinois.edu) for the session link.

About IIDAI: 
The IBM-Illinois Discovery Accelerator Institute is an academic-industry partnership designed to spur breakthroughs in emerging areas of technology, while developing research skills and increasing access to technology education. The research program of the Institute is built on a close collaboration between University of Illinois and IBM researchers working in the areas of AI Platform, Quantum-Centric Supercomputing, Software, Algorithms, and Applications, and New Algorithms Discovery.