The National Science Foundation has awarded $20 million to establish a new national research institute focused on using artificial intelligence to strengthen STEM education across the United States. The initiative will be led by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with the University of Florida serving as a major partner.
The new center, known as the AI Institute for Inclusive Intelligent Technologies for Education (INVITE), will be headquartered in Illinois and supported by a broad coalition of scholars, educators, and school systems nationwide. Its mission is to design AI-powered educational tools that help teachers better understand how students learn and respond to academic challenges.
According to Kristy Elizabeth Boyer, the institute’s managing director and a computer science professor in UF’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, the project aims to harness AI’s ability to learn from diverse student data. By doing so, the institute plans to create intelligent systems that allow educators to tailor instruction to individual learners. The institute’s research network will include more than 96,000 students across 24 school districts in eight states, providing one of the largest datasets of its kind for AI-driven education research.
Rather than focusing solely on academic performance, INVITE will emphasize three key noncognitive skills that strongly influence student success: persistence, academic resilience, and collaboration. Researchers will explore how AI technologies can recognize and support the development of these skills in real classroom settings.
University of Florida President Ben Sasse said the institute reflects a broader shift in how education must evolve alongside emerging technologies. He emphasized that artificial intelligence is already reshaping society and that applying it responsibly in education can deliver lasting benefits for students, communities, and the workforce.
The institute’s research agenda will examine how children communicate STEM ideas, how they persevere through difficult material, and how teachers encourage productive learning behaviors. The AI tools developed through this work will be designed for direct classroom use, helping educators adapt instruction in real time based on student needs.
Maya Israel, an associate professor of educational technology at UF and a senior member of the INVITE leadership team, said the institute’s goal is to ensure that AI is used to expand opportunity rather than deepen existing gaps. She noted that the project will generate new technologies and teaching approaches designed to support students from a wide range of backgrounds.
A central priority of INVITE is to increase STEM participation among historically marginalized K–12 students. The institute will also provide research and training opportunities for college students, helping to build a more diverse pipeline of future scientists, engineers, and educators.
David Norton, UF’s vice president for research, highlighted the collaborative nature of the institute and its use of advanced AI infrastructure across multiple universities. He said the work addresses one of higher education’s most important responsibilities: preparing young people for future success in a rapidly changing world.
Beyond research, the institute will support national partnerships, educator professional development, community outreach, and the creation of widely accessible AI-in-education resources. These efforts are intended to strengthen the country’s overall capacity for AI research while broadening participation in computing fields.
Funding for the INVITE Institute comes through the NSF, with support from the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education. The institute joins a growing network of National AI Institutes, which together represent the largest federal investment in artificial intelligence research and workforce development to date, totaling more than $500 million.
