NEWS
NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma has been awarded two U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) grants totaling $2,445,829 to support data-intensive research. One will fund artificial intelligence consulting to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics research across the state of Oklahoma, and the other will support an upgrade of OU’s Norman campus research network to 400 gigabits per second.
OU’s new NSF AI consulting grant – known as the OneOklahoma Cyberinfrastructure Initiative AI Consulting (OneOCII-AIC) project – was developed to address several key statewide and national needs, including helping research teams to adopt AI into their research and improve their existing AI use, while providing training on how to effectively integrate AI into research. Additionally, the grant aims to create a pipeline of AI consultants and establish a national workforce development program for them.
“Oklahoma has never before had a statewide AI consulting capability,” said Henry Neeman, executive director of research computing for OU Information Technology and director of the OU Supercomputing Center for Education and Research, who serves as the Principal Investigator for both grants. “The OneOCII-AIC project will serve over 90 research teams at 9 institutions across the state, including over 60 teams at OU from more than two dozen academic departments in seven colleges – and we plan on more research teams signing on once OneOCII-AIC is up and running.”
The new research networking project will leverage OU’s longstanding collaboration with OneNet, Oklahoma’s research, education and government network, to deliver a 400% increase in research networking capacity for OU’s Norman campus, especially for OU’s research computing systems. “This project will deploy the biggest increase in OU’s research network capacity in almost a decade. Our research network will be fast enough to transfer the entire Library of Congress in less than a week,” said Nishanth Rodrigues, OU’s Chief Information Officer. “We’re incredibly excited about this opportunity to cultivate data-intensive research with collaborators statewide, regionally and nationally.”
“Research computing is foundational to nearly every aspect of OU’s research enterprise and is critical to our continued growth,” said Vice President for Research and Partnerships Matthew Hulver. “We’re excited to see these projects unfold and celebrate our role as a statewide convener of solutions to important challenges.”
About the projects
“OneOklahoma Cyberinfrastructure Initiative Artificial Intelligence Consultants (OneOCII-AIC): Developing a Pipeline of AI Consultants and Workforce Training Program” is funded by U.S. National Science Foundation grant number 2538234.
“CC*Network-Campus: The OneOklahoma Friction Free Network 400GE (OFFN-400) at the University of Oklahoma” is funded by U.S. National Science Foundation grant number 2503204.
Both of these projects began October 1, 2025. For more information about these projects, contact Henry Neeman at hneeman@ou.edu.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
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