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Credit: NSF

Scientific discovery increasingly depends on AI resources, including large-scale computing, high-quality data and specialized tools. Without access to these resources, ambitious questions pursued by U.S. researchers may exceed the resources of an individual laboratory or institution. To help facilitate this foundational research, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $35 million cooperative award over five years to the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the UC San Diego Halıcıoğlu School of Data Science and Computing to establish and run the NSF National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Operations Center (NSF NAIRR-OC).

SDSC will lead the NAIRR-OC in collaboration with the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin. Together, the institutions will build the operational foundation for a sustained national AI research infrastructure, helping transition the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) from a successful pilot into a long-term national capability.

The award creates the organization, services and coordination needed to connect researchers, educators and students with advanced computing, high-quality data, AI models, software, tools, training and technical expertise.

“The NAIRR-OC is an important step toward making advanced AI resources genuinely usable by researchers, educators and students across the country,” said Frank Würthwein, SDSC director and NAIRR-OC principal investigator and director. “By expanding access, we can enable ambitious ideas and discoveries that might otherwise remain out of reach.”

SDSC will work in close alignment with TACC, building on the institutions’ established relationship and complementary strengths in national-scale cyberinfrastructure, user support, AI-enabled scientific workflows, data services and workforce development.

“Since its founding, TACC’s primary mission has been to connect the research community to the most advanced capabilities computing can offer. The NAIRR-OC fits perfectly with that mission,” said Dan Stanzione, associate vice president for research, UT Austin and executive director, TACC. “Together with our long-time collaborators at SDSC, the NAIRR-OC will help us bring AI to new researchers and users, and to create a single, coordinated service to bring NSF resources to the research community and the public. This project will complement TACC’s role in leading the U.S. NSF Leadership-Class Computing Facility, providing the computing and data infrastructure that NAIRR users will need for discovery at scale.”

A National Connective Layer for AI

Through the cooperative agreement, SDSC and TACC will work closely with NSF to serve as NAIRR’s operational backbone. The Operations Center will:

• coordinate participating private-sector, federal and academic resource providers;
• integrate computing, distributed scientific data, AI models, software and research tools;
• build and operate a unified national NAIRR portal;
• provide user support, documentation, training, outreach and engagement;
• establish a NAIRR user forum and feedback channels to ensure that the resource evolves in response to community needs;
• lead the transition of appropriate functions from the NAIRR Pilot into long-term national infrastructure; and
• identify challenges that prevent researchers, educators and students from fully engaging in AI-enabled discovery.

Building on Complementary Expertise

UC San Diego and UT Austin bring complementary national expertise to the initiative. UC San Diego is home to SDSC and leads the NSF-supported National Data Platform (NDP) and National Research Platform (NRP). UT Austin is home to TACC, which leads the U.S. NSF Leadership-Class Computing Facility (NSF LCCF).

This partnership reflects a broader national strategy: integrate leading existing capabilities rather than build isolated infrastructure.

“For more than two decades, TACC has built and operated portals that make some of the nation’s most advanced computing systems, data resources, and research tools usable through a unified experience,” said Maytal Dahan, NAIRR-OC co-principal investigator and director of Advanced Computing Interfaces at TACC. “The NAIRR Portal will build on TACC’s Core Portal and Tapis frameworks to provide a cohesive front door to an evolving ecosystem of AI resources, bringing together discovery, access, and research workflows in an interface designed to serve the national research and education community.”

The NAIRR-OC will also work closely with federal and private-sector resource providers, strengthening a public-private partnership model that enables academic researchers to benefit from rapidly evolving AI capabilities while advancing open, independent foundational research.

Workforce, Discovery and Economic Impact

Training and workforce development will be central to NAIRR-OC’s work. The center will pair access to resources with practical help: clear processes for requesting and using services, accessible documentation, training programs, outreach, user engagement and feedback channels.

“This program focuses on the basic AI and AI-enabled scientific research and innovation that leads to the start-ups, products, services and discovery that drive our economy,” said SDSC Deputy Director Ashley Atkins, who is the NAIRR-OC co-principal investigator and deputy director. “By connecting researchers and institutions with AI infrastructure, training, data, technical guidance and a responsive national user community, the NAIRR-OC can help develop a workforce that will not only use AI, but also shape how it advances science, engineering and society.”

Atkins said that the operations center is specifically aligned with the White House’s Genesis Mission, a federal initiative to accelerate AI-driven scientific discovery, by giving the broader U.S. research community pathways to necessary computing and data resources alongside training and support.

In addition to computing power and training/support, access to high-quality data is also essential to AI-driven innovation and discovery. Accordingly, the NAIRR-OC will focus on integrating data resources from the NSF Integrated Data Systems and Services program. These couplings help researchers combine computing, data and AI tools in ways that support rigorous, reproducible and collaborative science ranging from biomedicine and fusion energy to materials science and public health.

About the NAIRR Operations Center: The National AI Research Resource is an NSF-led, public-private effort that connects the U.S. research and education community with advanced AI resources. Its goals are to accelerate AI and AI-enabled discovery; expand and train the AI workforce; increase use of world-class public and private resources; and advance AI interpretability, security and trust. The NAIRR-OC is funded by the NSF (award no. 2616251).

The NAIRR Pilot, launched in January 2024, has connected approximately 900 research teams and educators across all 50 states with AI resources during its first 2.5 years. NAIRR-OC will build upon that progress by establishing the coordinated services and operational structure needed for sustained national infrastructure.

About SDSC: The San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego is a national leader in advanced computing, artificial intelligence, data and cyberinfrastructure. SDSC enables research, education and innovation by providing expertise, services and resources that help communities use data- and computation-intensive technologies to address complex challenges.

About TACC: Since 2001, the Texas Advanced Computing Center at The University of Texas at Austin has advanced discoveries across scientific disciplines by providing world-class systems, software and expertise to researchers addressing society’s greatest challenges. TACC offers high-performance computing, AI at scale, storage, visualization, training and workforce development, fostering innovation that transforms science and improves lives. As home to the NSF Leadership-Class Computing Facility, TACC will help drive the next decade of breakthroughs in computational research and discovery.