2026 AI Research Awards Nominations Are Now Open
Nominations for the 2026 AIIRI AI Research Awards are now being accepted.
The UF Artificial Intelligence and Informatics Research Institute (AIIRI) invites nominations for its annual AI Research Awards, recognizing outstanding individuals whose research is advancing artificial intelligence and informatics at the University of Florida.
Nomination Period
Opens: July 24, 2026
Closes: Sept. 8, 2026
Award recipients will be recognized during UF AI Days: Research & Teaching in Fall 2026.
Why Nominate?
The AI Research Awards celebrate outstanding individuals whose research is advancing artificial intelligence and informatics through innovation, discovery, and interdisciplinary collaboration. By recognizing excellence in AI research, AIIRI highlights the researchers whose work is shaping the future of AI at the University of Florida.
We invite nominations of deserving individuals for the appropriate award category.
Award Categories
AI Research Excellence Award
UF AI Research Excellence Award is to honor faculty or staff who have made exceptional and impactful research contributions in AI.
Sponsored by the UF Artificial Intelligence and Informatics Research Institute
Eligibility: Nominee must be UF faculty or staff.
AI Research Early Career Award
UF AI Research Early Career Award is to honor early career rising stars and future leaders of the UF AI Research community.
Sponsored by the UF Artificial Intelligence and Informatics Research Institute
Eligibility: Nominee must be a tenure-track UF faculty member (i.e., pre-tenure faculty) OR a UF staff member, non-tenure track faculty member, research scientist or post-doctoral researcher prior to promotion with no more than ten years in their current beginning professional role at the time of nomination.
AI Research Dissertation Award
UF AI Research Dissertation Award is to honor UF PhD Students who have successfully completed an outstanding PhD dissertation in AI.
Sponsored by the UF Artificial Intelligence and Informatics Research Institute
Eligibility: Nominee must be a current or former UF PhD Student that successfully passed their dissertation defense within the past one year at the time of nomination.
HiPerGator Pioneering Team Award
The HiPerGator Pioneering Team Award is to honor research teams who have made impactful contributions using HiPerGator
Sponsored by the UF Research Computing
Eligibility: Any student, faculty or staff member at any Florida institution that is a user of HiPerGator.
HiPerGator Early Career Award Dissertation Award
The HiPerGator Early Career Award is to recognize early career rising stars for their individual contributions enabled by HiPerGator.
Sponsored by UF Research Computing
Eligibility: Nominee must be a undergraduate or graduate student OR tenure-track faculty member (i.e., pre-tenure faculty) OR a staff member, non-tenure track faculty member, research scientist or post-doctoral researcher prior to promotion with no more than ten years in their current beginning professional role at the time of nomination. Nominees for this award are open to any individual meeting the above criteria at a Florida institution who is a user of HiPerGato
About the AI Research Awards
The AI Research Awards were created to honor exceptional contributions that advance AI research, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and demonstrate real-world impact. Together, this year’s recipients exemplify the spirit of innovation and discovery that defines AI research at UF.
AIIRI 2025 Award Winners
AI Research Excellence Award
Dr. Adrian Roitberg, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry
Dr. Roitberg pioneered the use of neural network models that replicate the accuracy of quantum mechanical calculations while reducing computational time by several orders of magnitude. His open-source “ANI” models are now used by leading academic and industry partners worldwide. Most recently, his team leveraged HiPerGator, UF’s AI supercomputer, to simulate early-Earth chemical environments, generating molecular precursors to life, a breakthrough in physics-informed AI research.
AI Research Early Career Award
Dr. Kiley Graim, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Dr. Graim’s research harnesses AI to tackle major challenges in cancer genomics and precision medicine. Her lab develops machine learning frameworks that remove ancestry bias in genomic data, design novel immunotherapies using generative AI, and integrate comparative oncology datasets across hundreds of species. Through her innovative and equitable approaches, Dr. Graim is shaping the next generation of AI-powered biomedical discovery.
AI Research Dissertation Award
Dr. Jeremy Balch, College of Medicine, Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics
Dr. Balch’s dissertation applies artificial intelligence to improving the quality, safety, and efficiency of surgical care. His research integrates natural language processing, computer vision, and information-theoretic modeling to enhance surgical decision-making and hospital operations. From using large language models to interpret surgical notes to developing retrieval-augmented generation systems for trauma coding, his work demonstrates how AI can improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency across clinical settings.
AI Research Nominations
Applications for the 2026 AI Research Awards will close Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Winners will be announced at AI Days: Research and Teaching in Fall of 2026.