Summer Undergraduate Research Opportunity (REU) with The Artificial and Natural Intelligence Institute (ARNI) at Columbia University (Please Share!)

Overview

The NSF Artificial and Natural Intelligence Institute (ARNI) at Columbia University is offering a 10-week program for undergraduate students interested in gaining research experience at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science and Neuroscience. Our program is offered in collaboration with the SURE Columbia Engineering program. 

Research

Students will have the opportunity to be placed in a lab associated with one of ARNI’s research projects. ARNI projects are interdisciplinary within five research core themes: Robust and Flexible Learning, Continual Learning, Reasoning about Causality and Uncertainty, Neural Mechanisms, and Language and Vision. You can learn more about ARNI’s mission and research projects here.

Community and Professional Development

ARNI collaborates with the SURE Columbia Engineering program  to enrich students’ experience with engaging personal and professional development programming, exposure to industry, and fun activities in New York City. The program culminates in a presentation at the Summer Research Symposium where each student showcases their research efforts to peers, faculty, researchers, and industry professionals.

This summer research opportunity provides hands-on research experience, fosters networking, and serves as a valuable stepping stone for students pursuing careers in research within these fields.  

• 10 weeks of laboratory research
• Graduate student and faculty mentoring
• Room and board
• Summer stipend
• Weekly professional development 
• Social engagement activities in NYC
  

We encourage undergraduate students interested in computer science, neuroscience, cognitive science, or related fields to apply. In your statement, please indicate your relevant courses, or prior research activities to date. While relevant, research activities are not required for acceptance to this REU program. 

We strongly encourage applications from individuals who have been historically underrepresented in STEM, including women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes first-generation college students, community college students, and students from institutions with limited research opportunities.

Eligibility Requirements 

• US citizen or permanent resident 
• A rising junior or rising senior from any U.S.-based college or university 
• Available to complete the entire 10 week program from Monday to Friday, from late May to first week of August
• Basic knowledge of computer science, programming, and/or coding 
• Basic knowledge of neuroscience, cognitive science, or artificial intelligence (AI)
  

How to Apply

• Personal Statement (up to 2 pages, single spaced, New Times Roman font size 12, PDF) 
  • Explain why this specific research opportunity aligns with your research interests and future career goals
  • Indicate relevant coursework or prior research experience
• List of one professor or professional reference, included their contact information (email and phone number) and a letter of recommendation per reference 
• Most up to date unofficial transcript (PDF) 

Application Deadline: Feb 11, 2025 end of day. Please apply in this link.

Look forward to ARNI's next Distinguished Seminar Speaker, Marlene Behrmann. 

"Dr. Marlene Behrmann is a Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, whose research specializes in the cognitive basis of visual perception, with a specific focus on object recognition. Widely considered to be a trailblazer and a worldwide leader in the field of visual cognition, she was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences in 2015 and into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019" (Carnegie Melon).

Title and Abstract: TBD
Date and Time: February 28, 2025 at 3:00pm
Location: TBD

Check https://arni-institute.org/events/ for updates.

Lecture Series in AI Featuring Danqi Chen

ARNI was thrilled to co-host Dr. Danqi Chen, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University and Associate Director of Princeton Language and Intelligence, for an insightful lecture as part of Columbia Engineering's Lecture Series in AI.

In her talk, “Training Language Models in Academia: Research Questions and Opportunities,” Dr. Chen shared her exciting research on advancing the open language model ecosystem. From developing smaller yet highly capable models like Sheared LLaMA to exploring long-context models like ProLong, she demonstrated how academic innovation can lead the way in making AI more efficient, scalable, and accessible.

ARNI at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI)!

On December 16, ARNI faculty and students from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pennsylvania visited NYSCI to brainstorm museum activities that showcase the shared principles of natural and artificial intelligence via and real-world AI applications.

Jianbo Shi, Xaq Pitkow, and their students proposed activities focused on computer vision, while NYSCI provided expertise in pedagogy, audience engagement strategies, and logistical considerations for museum floor activities. Suzanne Dikker, Associate Professor at NYU and NYSCI collaborator, offered her expertise and tools in data visualization. Suzanne’s innovative work at the intersection of neuroscience, education, and digital art, brings an important and creative dimension in ARNI-NYSCI collaboration.

This collaborative meeting is part of ARNI’s prototyping process, aiming to test 2-3 activities on the museum floor by the summer of 2025. The goal is to engage the public in using and questioning AI systems while fostering curiosity and creativity.

OAC Office Hours: No-Cost Access to National Advanced Computing Resources 

The NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure (OAC) supports the development of an integrated ecosystem of cyberinfrastructure resources to accelerate research and innovation through investments in advanced computing, data and software infrastructure, networking capabilities, topical centers of excellence, user-facing services and related learning and workforce development.

No-Cost Access to National Advanced Computing Resources 

Join the office hours to discover how you can leverage cyberinfrastructure resources made available to U.S.-based researchers at no cost! These sessions will feature offerings from the NSF-funded Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support (ACCESS) program, the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot, and the NSF-funded Cloudbank resource. Learn about the opportunities available to you and get your questions answered by experts on the various initiatives.

Registration is now open for these sessions: Q1 2025 Schedule

Every other Friday, noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time

• January 17
• January 31
• February 14
• February 28
• March 14
• March 28

More about ACCESS

• • Visit the ACCESS website to learn about available resources.
  • Explore the cyberinfrastructure resources available to the AI Institutes, free of cost, through the ACCESS program.

• NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology - Link
• Brody lab at Princeton is seeking postdocs - Link

We would like to highlight ARNI achievements in future newsletters. Please share with us your events, papers, presentation, or any news you want to share with the ARNI community!