2346527
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
CIRC: GRAND: The Neuromorphic Commons (THOR) - The Neuromorphic Commons (THOR) project aims to accelerate the pace of research innovation by creating a new and unparalleled large-scale neuromorphic computing resource, providing unique opportunities for cooperation in research collaborations and tool development.
By lowering the barriers to access neuromorphic infrastructure through collaborations with two prominent neuromorphic companies, and by providing open-source software frameworks and benchmarks, THOR will drive research advancements in multiple application domains.
THOR will catalyze a transformation in algorithm design, hardware/software co-design paradigms, and neuromorphic applications, similar in scale to the impact seen when high-performance computing systems became accessible to the engineering research community.
The THOR project involves researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Tennessee Knoxville, the University of California San Diego, and Harvard University.
The project aims to develop and deploy large-scale neuromorphic computing research infrastructure which will provide community access to heterogeneous neuromorphic computing hardware systems through close-knit partnership with industry.
THOR offers I) remote access to large-scale neuromorphic systems; II) open-source hardware/software co-design frameworks and tools; III) common benchmarks and competitions; and IV) rapid algorithm development by providing access to a collection of learning modules, network models, and example frameworks.
THOR will enable a richer understanding of computational models, algorithms, neuromorphic hardware, and engineered test cases, supporting research in neuroscience and a wide range of application domains that benefit from bioinspired processing.
THOR team will develop training and educational materials that will cover the fundamentals of neuromorphic learning algorithms and systems, in partnership with industry and the neuromorphic community.
All the resources will be available through open platforms to researchers and K-12 students, facilitating integration into both undergraduate and graduate curricula.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Subawards are planned for this award.
By lowering the barriers to access neuromorphic infrastructure through collaborations with two prominent neuromorphic companies, and by providing open-source software frameworks and benchmarks, THOR will drive research advancements in multiple application domains.
THOR will catalyze a transformation in algorithm design, hardware/software co-design paradigms, and neuromorphic applications, similar in scale to the impact seen when high-performance computing systems became accessible to the engineering research community.
The THOR project involves researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Tennessee Knoxville, the University of California San Diego, and Harvard University.
The project aims to develop and deploy large-scale neuromorphic computing research infrastructure which will provide community access to heterogeneous neuromorphic computing hardware systems through close-knit partnership with industry.
THOR offers I) remote access to large-scale neuromorphic systems; II) open-source hardware/software co-design frameworks and tools; III) common benchmarks and competitions; and IV) rapid algorithm development by providing access to a collection of learning modules, network models, and example frameworks.
THOR will enable a richer understanding of computational models, algorithms, neuromorphic hardware, and engineered test cases, supporting research in neuroscience and a wide range of application domains that benefit from bioinspired processing.
THOR team will develop training and educational materials that will cover the fundamentals of neuromorphic learning algorithms and systems, in partnership with industry and the neuromorphic community.
All the resources will be available through open platforms to researchers and K-12 students, facilitating integration into both undergraduate and graduate curricula.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
Subawards are planned for this award.
Funding Goals
THE GOAL OF THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, "COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR RESEARCH IN COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING", IS IDENTIFIED IN THE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/PUB_SUMM.JSP?ODS_KEY=NSF23589
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding Agency
Funding Agency
Place of Performance
San Antonio,
Texas
78249-1644
United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Related Opportunity
Analysis Notes
Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 530% from $500,000 to $3,151,918.
The University Of Texas At San Antonio was awarded
THOR: Accelerating Neuromorphic Research Innovation
Project Grant 2346527
worth $3,151,918
from the Division of Computer and Network Systems in September 2024 with work to be completed primarily in San Antonio Texas United States.
The grant
has a duration of 5 years and
was awarded through assistance program 47.070 Computer and Information Science and Engineering.
The Project Grant was awarded through grant opportunity Community Infrastructure for Research in Computer and Information Science and Engineering.
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 9/18/25
Period of Performance
9/1/24
Start Date
8/31/29
End Date
Funding Split
$3.2M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$3.2M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Transaction History
Modifications to 2346527
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
2346527
SAI Number
None
Award ID URI
SAI EXEMPT
Awardee Classifications
Public/State Controlled Institution Of Higher Education
Awarding Office
490509 OFC OF ADV CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE
Funding Office
490505 DIV OF COMPUTER NETWORK SYSTEMS
Awardee UEI
U44ZMVYU52U6
Awardee CAGE
025W2
Performance District
TX-20
Senators
John Cornyn
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz
Modified: 9/18/25