Cal State Channel Islands (CSUCI) has secured a place in the U.S. Department of Energy's Genesis Mission, a national initiative that pairs artificial intelligence with high-performance computing to accelerate scientific discovery. CSUCI Associate Professor of Computer Science Scott Feister will serve as co-investigator on the Phase I project, one of only 5% of applications selected for funding.
The DOE announced the first Genesis Mission projects in July. The program connects advanced AI systems with supercomputers, scientific instruments, and large-scale research data, bringing together national laboratories, universities, and industry.
"It is especially exciting to win a place for CSUCI in a fiercely competitive grant sought after by our nation's greatest science institutions," Feister said. "This honor is a testament to the strength of the research being done at CSUCI and the expertise of our faculty. We may be a small institution, but we're doing research that can make a meaningful contribution to some of the nation's most ambitious scientific and technological efforts."
Making experiments more autonomous
Feister's Genesis Mission work will focus on applying AI and advanced computing to scientific experimentation, with an emphasis on making complex experiments more automated, responsive, and efficient. A key area is the development of AI-enabled control and autonomous laboratory systems for high-power laser experiments.
These systems combine experimental data, machine learning, and computer-controlled equipment so researchers can analyze results rapidly and use those results to guide subsequent experiments. Recent collaborative research involving Feister demonstrated machine-learning control of laser-driven plasma states and identified autonomous experimentation as a pathway toward accelerating scientific discovery.
For researchers following developments in AI for Science & Research, the Genesis Mission represents one of the largest federal efforts to integrate autonomous systems into experimental workflows. The broader program aims to extend this approach across scientific disciplines, pairing researchers with AI systems capable of analyzing data, running simulations, generating hypotheses, and guiding experiments.
Building on CSUCI's research portfolio
Feister's research connects computer science with high-power laser physics and has included collaborations with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other research institutions. His work has explored machine learning, automated control systems, and the use of computing to make sophisticated scientific experiments faster and more capable.
The university has also been expanding opportunities for students to engage directly with advanced computing and AI. CSUCI students have participated in national high-performance computing competitions and research projects involving national laboratories, giving undergraduate students experience with technologies increasingly central to scientific and industrial innovation.
DOE's Phase I awards support nine-month projects, with successful teams positioned to compete for larger Phase II awards. For those interested in the methods behind this work, AI Research Courses cover the machine learning and computational approaches that underpin autonomous experimentation.
Why this matters for science and research professionals
The Genesis Mission signals where federal research funding is heading: toward AI systems that don't just analyze data after the fact, but actively steer experiments in real time. For researchers in physics, materials science, and adjacent fields, autonomous experimentation could compress timelines that currently depend on manual iteration. Feister's point about CSUCI students is telling - "they can work with their professors to become leaders at the cutting edge of AI, science, and technology." The skills gap between traditional experimental science and AI-enabled workflows is closing, and federal programs are now funding that transition directly.
Your membership also unlocks:
