The Office of Foundation Relations is pleased to share this open call for funding from Schmidt Sciences.
- UCSC Contact: Samantha Forde | forde@ucsc.edu
- Funder: Schmidt Sciences
- Opportunity: AI Interpretability
- Deadline: May 26, 2026 8:59 PM PT
Informational Webinars:
Overview
Schmidt Sciences invites proposals for a pilot program in AI interpretability. Schmidt Sciences seeks new methods for detecting and mitigating deceptive behaviors from AI models, such as when models knowingly give misleading or harmful advice to users. Schmidt Sciences encourages proposals on any relevant technical methods or evaluation that could advance our scientific understanding of deceptive behavior in LLMs, with a special focus on three directions:
- Detecting deceptive behaviors from LLMs: can we develop tools for detecting deceptive behaviors, defined as cases where there is a contradiction between what a model says (or does) and what it internally represents to be true (or the best action)?
- Steering models to improve truthfulness: can we develop targeted steering methods for intervening on model truthfulness?
- Applications of detection/steering methods: can new detection and steering techniques unlock use cases of AI? When can these techniques improve human-AI teams in practice? When will having more truthful AI improve outcomes from multi-agent systems?
A scope of research is defined in the Research Agenda section of this RFP.
Award Amount & Terms
- $300k – $1M
- projects for 1-3 years
- Indirect costs must not exceed 10%
Please see a list of FAQs for the AI Interpretability program.
Timeline
- May 26, 2026 8:59 PM PT Proposal deadline
- Summer 2026 Notification
Special Instructions
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity and if you would like support in developing your proposal (fr@ucsc.edu). Please submit a proposal intake form prior to UCSC’s internal Institutional Deadlines. For additional support developing your proposal, you can send a request to the Office of Research Development, resdev@ucsc.edu.
Call Sent: March 23, 2026
The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Advancement. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits. For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website: FR Calls for Funding.