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UCSB Wins Two AI-for-Science Grants From Department of Energy

Two faculty-led efforts at UCSB enter Phase I support under the national AI-for-science program, shifting focus to practical steps for execution and collaboration.

By Santa Maria News Desk · Published July 24, 2026

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UCSB announced that two faculty-led projects were selected for Phase I support under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission. The selection moves the initiatives from proposal stage into active development, where researchers must now address concrete choices on AI tools, experimental setups and team coordination.

Project Leaders and Their Focus Areas

Michelle O’Malley, professor of chemical engineering and bioengineering, leads the effort titled Precision Microbiome Engineering in Anaerobic Communities: From Deconstruction to Bioproduction. Her team will apply AI alongside automated experiments to model and engineer microbial communities. Justin Wilson, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, heads the second project, which will use AI to design a two-stage molecule-and-protein system for recognizing rare-earth elements. This work includes researchers from UCSB and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Scale of the National Initiative

The U.S. Department of Energy reported that the first round selected 278 projects across 342 participating institutions. These span national laboratories, universities, companies and nonprofit organizations. The breadth indicates that UCSB teams will operate within a large network, requiring decisions on data sharing, resource allocation and alignment with other participants.

Next Steps and Decisions Ahead

With Phase I support confirmed, the immediate priority for both projects is translating the outlined approaches into working plans. For O’Malley’s group this means selecting the specific AI models and automated laboratory systems that will handle microbial community data. For Wilson’s group the focus turns to integrating the two-stage recognition system while managing the cross-institution partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory. Researchers will also determine how to sequence experiments, allocate computing resources and track progress against DOE milestones. These choices will shape the first deliverables under the Genesis Mission framework.