Research Prize - SOM Foundation
SOM Foundation’s Research Prize supports faculty-led teams and students researching AI’s effects on the built environment to explore human agency and equitable, resilient, human-centered futures.
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Funder: SOM Foundation
Due Dates: December 7, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. CST (Application) | February 1, 2027 (Notification by) | September 15, 2027 (Preferred latest start) | December 31, 2028 (Completion)
Funding Amounts: Two $30,000 prizes; research expected to take one year
Summary: Supports faculty-led interdisciplinary research on “AI, the Built Environment, and Human Agency” through U.S. academic studios and seminars.
Key Information: Previously awarded faculty, SOM Foundation affiliated members, and SOM employees cannot participate in proposals.
Description
Introduced in 2018, the SOM Foundation’s Research Prize supports original research addressing critical contemporary issues and connecting academic inquiry with professional practice. Faculty-led interdisciplinary teams develop research through studios and seminars, involving students alongside collaborators from other disciplines, professional practice, nonprofit organizations, and communities.
The 2026–2027 framework, “AI, the Built Environment, and Human Agency,” explores how artificial intelligence is transforming buildings, infrastructure, public space, and urban services. It asks what spatial, social, and environmental conditions emerge as machine intelligence enters the physical world, and what opportunities remain for human agency in design. Research should consider how architects, engineers, and planners can help these transformations contribute to equitable, resilient, and human-centered futures.
