The MIT Office of Research Computing and Data (ORCD) Seed Fund is one part of a strategic effort supporting infrastructure for applied AI/ML research across all of MIT. Twice per year, the ORCD Seed Fund supports project opportunities for 3-6 months.
Eligible projects will be activities that can usefully leverage ORCD GPU resources to accelerate their research and produce tangible results. Projects of interest to the program will also collaborate with ORCD team members, providing feedback and contributing toward evaluating and improving the ORCD research computing environment for all of MIT. Projects should be led by someone holding PI status in an MIT DLCI.
Application information will be shared when new rounds of funding launch. Applications for resources for the Fall semester will launch in the prior Spring semester; applications for resources for the Spring semester will launch in the prior Fall semester.
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Background
The MIT Office of Research Computing and Data (ORCD) is continuing our strategic Seed Fund initiative. The Seed Fund is one part of a strategic effort supporting infrastructure for applied AI/ML research, creating a powerful AI/ML platform for all of MIT.
During the funding period, project teams will collaborate with ORCD team members, providing feedback on ORCD systems and contributing toward evaluating and improving the ORCD research computing environment for all of MIT.
In this funding round, ORCD is planning to support around 6 project opportunities for one semester of graduate student funding and 3-6 months of enhanced compute resources. Eligible projects will be activities that can usefully leverage ORCD GPU resources to accelerate their research and produce tangible results. Projects will contribute to improving ORCD’s platform for the entire MIT community. Projects must be led by someone holding PI status in an MIT DLCI.
To Apply
The deadline for this round of seed fund proposals is March 4, 2026.
Interested applicants should submit a short technical narrative (one to two pages, not including references and links) and budget using the MIT Funding Opportunities Portal.
See the RFP and budget template for full details: