FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Fayetteville State University has secured the largest research award in its history, receiving $10 million in federal funding to build an interdisciplinary research program focused on artificial intelligence and emerging defense technologies.
The five-year award will provide approximately $2 million annually to expand research in applied artificial intelligence for defense systems, contested logistics and biomanufacturing.
FSU is one of only five institutions nationwide selected through the federal Research and Education Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions Pilot Program to Increase Research Capacity.
The award represents a significant expansion of FSU’s research operations and could have implications well beyond the university campus as Fayetteville and Cumberland County work to strengthen connections among higher education, Fort Bragg and the region’s defense and technology sectors.
Students Will Work Directly in Advanced Research
A major component of the program will be student involvement.
Undergraduate and graduate students will have opportunities to work alongside faculty researchers in areas including artificial intelligence, data science, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology and logistics.
The experience is intended to create a pathway from classroom learning into advanced research and careers requiring increasingly specialized technical skills.
Those skills are not limited to military applications. Artificial intelligence, advanced data systems, biotechnology and logistics are used across health care, manufacturing, transportation, supply-chain management, technology and other private industries.
FSU also plans to use the investment to expand faculty expertise and research infrastructure while advancing plans for a doctoral program in applied artificial intelligence for defense systems.
What Is Contested Logistics?
One of the program’s major research areas is contested logistics — the challenge of moving people, equipment and supplies when normal transportation or communication systems are disrupted.
In a military environment, that could mean using artificial intelligence and real-time information to quickly identify a new route when a bridge, road or other part of a supply network becomes unavailable.
Similar technology and research can have applications outside the military, including disaster response, emergency planning and managing supply chains during major disruptions.
Fort Bragg Connection
FSU’s location near Fort Bragg gives the research program particular significance for the Fayetteville area.
The university plans to collaborate with Fort Bragg as the program develops, building on existing relationships between FSU researchers and the military.
FSU computer science professor Sambit Bhattacharya has already worked with the XVIII Airborne Corps on artificial intelligence research addressing operational challenges at Fort Bragg.
The new award could expand those connections while giving students opportunities to work on real-world research problems involving emerging technology and national defense.
Building a Larger Research Program
The $10 million award is also designed to create research capacity that lasts beyond the initial five years.
FSU plans to add faculty expertise, expand student research opportunities, strengthen research infrastructure and develop the proposed doctoral program.
Ganesh C. Bora, FSU’s associate vice chancellor for research and innovation and chief research officer, will serve as prin
