Initiatives - LaCross AI Institute

The fellowship will support a research project in ethical artificial intelligence of significance to scholars and practitioners in business. The ideal project is aligned with one of the above topics and involves collaboration among multiple disciplines to address a program or opportunity in a novel way. The intent is to highlight disciplines, develop or apply methods, and pursue approaches to ethical AI that may be unfamiliar or inaccessible in the individual disciplines that conduct research in ethical artificial intelligence. The goal os the FAIR Program is to produce output that demonstrates the efficacy of such collaboration in identifying novel solutions and unique pathways for continued future research. 

Fellowships may include UVA and non-UVA faculty as Faculty Fellows, current and new UVA students as Student Fellows, and non-academic practitioners and other experts as Practitioner Fellows.  Proposed projects must be led by a member of the UVA faculty serving as Principal Investigator.

FAIR Fellows will join and have recognized standing as part of the UVA Darden and UVA Data Science communities, and potentially others across UVA, during the Fellowship.  

The primary activities of the Fellows will be those research-related activities that are necessary for completion of the proposed project, including as originally defined and as subsequently modified by agreement during the Fellowship.  

Secondary activities may include participation in seminars, classes, meetings, etc. with faculty, students and staff at UVA Darden, UVA Data Science, and in the UVA community at large, including at other UVA schools and units that are usefully related to the proposed project.

Faculty Fellows will be responsible for overseeing the work of others involved in the proposed project, including Post-doctoral Fellows, Student Fellows (doctoral or graduate students, NOT including undergraduate), Practitioner Fellows (individuals from business or other experts, etc.) and associated research staff (e.g., research assistants or support) who may be hired using Fellowship funds.  

Fellows are not expected to be in residence at UVA on a continuous basis, but will be expected to spend 2-3 periods in Charlottesville during the duration of the Fellowship.  During the rest of the Fellowship, they must be accessible remotely as necessary to ensure the successful completion of the proposed project.  Additional residency in the Charlottesville, Virginia area may be proposed, but Fellowship funding is not available to cover further residency-related expenses.

Fellows are expected to complete the activities and produce the outputs as agreed upon in the project proposal.  

Fellows will be required to present their work/or conduct public and private workshops and participate in related events to further disseminate their work. They may include virtual and/or in-person engagements. Fellows should identify themselves as recipients of the UVA LaCross AI Institute Fellowship in AI Research (FAIR) Program during the timeframe of the fellowship. Fellows should identify their work within this program as supported by the UVA LaCross AI Institute Fellowship in AI Research (FAIR) Program or other language as appropriate to the setting. 

Fellows are expected to be aware of and to adhere to UVA policies and guidelines that are relevant to their work as Fellows of the LaCross AI Institute.

The proposed project must be led by a UVA faculty member. Additional team members may be affiliated with other academic institutions and/or businesses with a presence in Virginia.

Proposed projects must be new work and not previously completed or published.

Project outputs should include, at a minimum, a paper, article, presentation or other document that is suitable for dissemination to a scholarly audience, such as through a peer-reviewed journal in artificial intelligence, data science, or business, or another venue as proposed and agreed.

Work is expected to be sufficient in quality and other respects so as to be useful in subsequent proposals for funding from public or private sources.  

FAIR Fellowships are generally 18 months in duration, but the duration may be modified to fit the timeline of a proposed project.  All proposed activities and outputs are expected to be completed during the duration of the Fellowship.

The funds for the fellowships are provided by the LaCross AI Institute. Each fellowship will include a maximum of $100,000 in total funding. Of this amount, $75,000 must be used for student-related expenses, including funding Student Fellows such as existing or new student researchers (post-doc, Ph.D, masters), covering student travel, conference fees, etc. and providing necessary resources such as data, software, training, compute, storage, etc. In addition, applicable fringe will also be covered. The remaining $25,000 can be used for any project-related expense at the Principal Investigator's discretion. All funds must be utilized as described in the submitted and accepted fellowship proposal.

For Faculty: Any full-time faculty member from the University of Virginia with any school or department and of any academic rank. Faculty in the fields of artificial intelligence, ethics, data science or business will be given preference, as will collaborations between faculty representing multiple disciplines and/or UVA units.  

For Non-faculty: Experienced practitioners and other non-academic professionals with more than 10 years of experience in artificial intelligence, data science or business. UVA Darden and UVA Data Science alumni will be given preference. 

FAIR Fellowship recipients must meet UVA work eligibility requirements.

Note that LaCross AI Institute leadership (e.g., Directors, etc) and members of the selection committee are not eligible to participate. 
 

26 September 
10 October
24 October
7 November 
21 November
19 December
2 January

All information sessions start at 1 p.m. 
Information sessions are conducted through the Zoom link here.

Anyone may nominate candidate(s) for the FAIR Program, however nominations are optional.  Direct applications from qualified individuals are encouraged.

If you would like to nominate someone else for the FAIR Program, please email the following to fair@darden.virginia.edu:

1.       Your name and contact information,

2.       The name and contact information of the person you are nominating,

3.       A short statement (500 words max.) of why you are making this nomination and what you expect the nominee will contribute if he or she is selected for this Fellowship.

A LaCross AI Institute representative will review all nominations and invite qualified individuals to submit an application for the 2026 FAIR Program.

Nomination deadline: 30 November 2025

To apply for the 2026 FAIR Program, individuals must submit the following information using the Application link on the LaCross AI Institute website. Note that a nomination is not required.

1. An abbreviated CV (3-pages maximum) for each Faculty member in the project proposal,
2. A project proposal that addresses the following at a minimum (5 pages maximum)
   • An overview of your proposed project,
   • A summary of the plan, timing and approach that you intend to follow,
   • A preliminary list or table of the resources (e.g., students, research staff, data, computing, etc.) and associated budget that you require (note that requested budget may not exceed $100,000 but may be less),
   • What type of UVA student resources (e.g., Post-doc, PhD, Masters) you intend to use,
   • What role, work, and other activities you expect the student(s) to perform in the project,
   • Outputs and end-products that you will produce,
   • Potential avenues to disseminate your work,
   • Potential opportunities to extend or expand this work using other sources of funding in the future.
   • Note: References are not included in the page limit, and should be limited to only those that are essential for the committee to evaluate the proposal.
3. A personal statement that addresses the following at a minimum (1 page maximum)
   • Why are you a compelling candidate for the FAIR Program and a strong fit with the LaCross AI Institute?
   • Why do this Fellowship and the LaCross AI Institute represent a uniquely compelling opportunity for you?
   • How does this Fellowship support your current and potential future professional activities?

Application deadline: 9 January 2026 *This is the extended deadline*

Successful candidates will be expected to provide a letter of support from their current school/unit/manager. They may be asked for professional references prior to the final awarding of the Fellowship.

Nominations Due

30 November 2025

Applications Due 

9 January 2026 *This is the extended deadline*

Fellowship Recipients Announced 

30 January 2026