RIT partners with Gallaudet University to launch an ambitious new research traineeship program focused on advancing Universal AI innovation

Rochester, New York – In an era when artificial intelligence seems to evolve by the hour, two universities known for their distinct strengths are taking a bold step to reshape who gets to build the future of AI—and how they are trained to do it. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and Gallaudet University have begun a new collaboration aimed at preparing a generation of AI researchers who will think beyond conventional technical boundaries and build tools that work for people of all sensory abilities. Their effort comes at a moment of global urgency, as governments, industries, and academic institutions scramble to set ethical guardrails and workforce pipelines for what may become the most influential technology of this century.

The centerpiece of the partnership is a $4.5 million award from the National Science Foundation. With this support, the institutions will launch the Universal AI Graduate Research Traineeship Program—a five-year initiative designed to address a persistent gap in AI education: the lack of training that directly centers on the needs of users with diverse sensory profiles. For many researchers, accessibility has not been part of the early planning and design process. RIT and Gallaudet aim to change that by building a structured, interdisciplinary program that intertwines AI engineering, human-centered thinking, and exposure to real-world applications.

The timing of the grant is no coincidence. AI development is accelerating worldwide, and the universities argue that shaping a technically strong but ethically and socially aware workforce is no longer optional. As RIT Professor Reynold Bailey, one of the project’s co-principal investigators, emphasized, “This is a critical moment for cultivating the next generation of AI researchers. As AI rapidly advances and reshapes nearly every field, there is an urgent need for graduate students who not only possess deep technical expertise across disciplines but also grasp the ethical and societal implications of the technologies they develop.”

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RIT’s existing AWARE-AI traineeship—which has already supported more than 60 graduate students—serves as the foundation for this new venture. The AWARE-AI program has become known for cross-disciplinary work that merges machine learning, psychology, robotics, and ethics. But the Universal AI program pushes that concept further by building a dual-institution system and placing accessibility at the center of the curriculum. As RIT Professor Cecilia Alm, co-principal investigator and director of AWARE-AI, noted, “The goal of the Universal AI initiative is also to create pathways into the AI research workforce.”

Under the new program, both universities will develop interdisciplinary coursework and training experiences that encourage graduate students to look at AI through multiple lenses. Students will investigate how algorithms operate, but also who gets left behind when those algorithms fail to account for sensory, linguistic, or cognitive diversity. The institutions see this as essential preparation for future AI professionals who will be expected to design tools that function safely and effectively for millions of different types of users.

That emphasis on inclusivity extends to the structure of the grant itself. Funding will cover tuition, stipends, and health benefits for 25 students in Gallaudet’s accessible human-centered computing and policy (AHCP) master’s program. By the program’s third year, the AHCP curriculum will launch a new track focused entirely on AI and accessibility—an academic pathway that the universities believe will be the first of its kind. Beyond the core trainees, an additional 75 Gallaudet graduate students will gain access to project-related training between 2025 and 2030. A small pilot cohort has already begun participating this fall, marking the first real test of the program’s model.

What makes the initiative unique is not just the funding or the curriculum but the collaboration between two institutions with complementary strengths. Gallaudet, the world’s premier university for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, brings deep knowledge of accessible technology, signaling systems, and policy. RIT, with its wide-reaching research enterprise and strong track record in AI and computer science, contributes technical rigor and an extensive laboratory environment. Together, they aim to blend their academic cultures into a shared space where accessibility isn’t an afterthought but part of the earliest stages of research design.

A defining feature of the traineeship will be hands-on experience. Trainees from Gallaudet will participate in summer lab rotations at RIT, working alongside doctoral students and research teams. These rotations will immerse students in studies ranging from AI hardware and robotics to brain-inspired computational modeling and human-computer interaction. The idea is to stretch each student’s understanding of AI beyond the confines of their home discipline and to spark collaborations that continue after the rotations end.

Outside the lab, trainees will join hackathons, seminars, workshops, and mentoring sessions. The program will also connect them with industry partners for internships and expose them to team science practices—skills often overlooked in graduate training but critical for working in modern research environments where projects span multiple fields and institutions. Much of this structure draws inspiration from the AWARE-AI program, which has become known for weaving technical and human-centered training into a single experience.

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The leadership team behind the grant reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the program. Principal investigator Raja Kushalnagar from Gallaudet’s School of Science, Technology, Accessibility, Mathematics, and Public Health leads a group that includes experts in computer science, psychology, engineering, accessibility, and data science. Their work also draws on the experience of researchers like Abraham Glasser, an RIT alumnus who later completed his Ph.D. in computing and information sciences. Now a faculty member at Gallaudet, Glasser expressed personal excitement about the partnership. “It is very exciting for me to be able to work directly with RIT again, especially on such an important and impactful project like this,” he said. He added that while progress in AI is rapid, “its potential to be universal and accessible while remaining safe, accountable, fair, and ethical—SAFE—has not been realized. This grant will train future researchers and developers of AI to do so while advocating its safety.”

The Universal AI traineeship program represents an ambitious attempt to build an AI workforce capable of thinking holistically about technology. While AI’s future remains uncertain, RIT and Gallaudet’s collaboration stands as one of the more deliberate efforts to prepare researchers who understand that AI systems will shape society only as responsibly as the people who build them. With the launch of this new initiative, the universities hope to create not just skilled engineers but thoughtful leaders—individuals who can design AI that truly works for everyone.