TLDR: The University of Vermont (UVM) has been awarded over $5.5 million in National Science Foundation (NSF) funding to advance research in critical areas, including a new AI supercomputer named IceCore, underground robotics, and various health and environmental sciences. This significant investment supports UVM’s growing research enterprise, enabling early-career scholars to tackle pressing global issues and enhancing the university’s competitive edge in high-performance computing and data science.
The University of Vermont (UVM) has announced it has secured more than $5.5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to bolster its research initiatives across several cutting-edge fields. This substantial investment will support investigations into next-generation artificial intelligence computing, human tissue mechanics, atmospheric science, underground robotics, and renewable energy systems.
The largest portion of the funding, a $2.1 million grant, is earmarked for the creation of IceCore, a new artificial intelligence supercomputer at UVM’s Vermont Advanced Computing Center. This high-performance computing cluster is designed to be 100 times faster than UVM’s current systems. Led by Chris Danforth of UVM’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, IceCore will provide approximately 1,000 UVM researchers and collaborators across Vermont and New England with the capacity to study diverse and timely topics, including infectious diseases, computational social science, and the behavior of large language models such as ChatGPT.
UVM President Marlene Tromp expressed gratitude for the NSF’s recognition of the university’s talented early-career researchers, stating, “We are grateful for the National Science Foundation’s recognition of our talented early career researchers. These funds will offer a vital investment in UVM’s research enterprise.” She also thanked Vermont’s congressional delegation for their consistent support of UVM’s groundbreaking research.
U.S. Senator Peter Welch lauded the achievements of UVM researchers, remarking, “Researchers at UVM excel at what they do, and the awards from the National Science Foundation are a testament to their talent and hard work. These grants, totaling $5.5 million, will help UVM’s researchers take significant strides to address some of the most pressing issues of our time, including how we can better treat infectious diseases, use emerging technologies to better respond to natural disasters, and use AI safely and responsibly.”
The total $5.5 million in NSF grants awarded to UVM in 2025 includes a record four NSF CAREER awards and two NSF Engineering Research Initiation grants, programs specifically designed to support early-career researchers embarking on new projects. Key grants include:
$2.1 million to Chris Danforth’s team for the IceCore AI supercomputer.
$695,000 to Giuseppe Petrucci (Chemistry) for atmospheric humidity and particle formation studies.
$624,000 CAREER award to Niccolo Fiorentino (Mechanical Engineering) for cartilage structure and function research relevant to osteoarthritis.
$571,000 CAREER award to Haicen Yue (Physics) for tissue mechanics studies with implications for regenerative medicine.
$500,000 CAREER award to Samuel Chevalier for machine learning applications to improve power grids.
$396,000 CAREER award to David Punihaole (Chemistry) for studying protein behaviors within cells.
$200,000 Engineering Research Initiation grant to Laura Treers (Mechanical Engineering) for developing underground robots for disaster aid and agriculture.
$200,000 Engineering Research Initiation grant to Kathryn Hinkelman (Civil and Environmental Engineering) for renewable energy systems research.
Kirk Dombrowski, UVM Vice President for Research and Economic Development, highlighted the impact of these awards: “Our research office has been working tirelessly to boost grant support for UVM researchers, so it is extremely heartening to see this hard work paying off. These NSF awards will enable us to pursue internationally competitive research, which helps us recruit outstanding faculty and students.”
Danforth also emphasized the benefits for students, noting that the new computing infrastructure will train undergraduates in a high-performance computing environment, making them highly competitive in the job market, particularly for data science roles. “In terms of innovation and competition for the best students, it’s a huge deal to be on the leading edge,” he added.
UVM’s Office of Research Development plays a crucial role in securing these competitive grants, assisting faculty with identifying opportunities, managing proposal submissions, and supporting the application process. Their new “Commit to Submit” program has notably increased successful applications for NSF CAREER grants.
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Earlier this year, UVM achieved the prestigious R1 designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, recognizing its extremely robust research enterprise—a distinction held by less than three percent of U.S. higher education institutions. In the 2024 fiscal year, UVM attracted a record $266 million in research funding, supporting a wide array of projects aimed at improving lives and the planet.
