AI for Research Cohort

SMU Libraries hosted an interdisciplinary cohort of SMU faculty to evaluate AI tools designed for academic research. Faculty from all disciplines were invited to apply for the cohort, which met on Zoom over the course of summer 2025. The cohort’s findings will be reported in a white paper to be published in the SMU Scholar Institutional Repository. Participants may also be asked to take part in a roundtable to discuss their findings.

The first Zoom meeting was held in late May. Each participant was asked to use the tools Elicit and Undermind to perform research in their field of study and to report on the affordances and limitations of each tool to the cohort and to contribute to the cohort’s white paper. Participants could also suggest other AI research tools to test as part of their participation in the cohort.

Participants received a $500 stipend to participate, plus $100 to cover 3 months of Pro licenses for the tools Elicit and Undermind.

Summer 2025 Cohort
Michael Chmielewski, Psychology Jayoung Nam, Finance
Miroslava Detcheva, World Languages Natalie Nanasi, Law
Ata Ersoy, Mechanical Engineering Omer Ozak, Economics
Amar Gande, Finance Klyne Smith, Computer Science
Nick Gesualdi, Education Policy & Leadership Michele Wiedemer, Education
Sarah Kucker, Psychology Jeanna Wieselmann, Teaching and Learning
Janice Lindstrom, Music Therapy

Eligibility

Full-time SMU faculty are eligible to apply. Deadline to submit applications is May 9, 2025.

Expectations

  • Attend 5 Zoom meetings (5 hours)
  • Evaluate 2 AI tools for research (~3 hours)
  • Report on the affordances and limitations of the tool for research in researcher’s discipline and/or for a specific research question or project (~2 hours)

Selection Criteria

Up to 8 cohort members will be selected based on:

  • Proposal to evaluate AI tools in a specific research area
  • Applicant’s ongoing/current research activity in their discipline
  • Applicant’s availability to commit 10 hours to the cohort, which includes 5 virtual meetings, over the course of the summer (May – July 2025)