Travel: III: U.S. Student Travel Support for Participation in the International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC 2026)

The International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC) is the leading global conference on technologies that help computers understand and connect data. These technologies are increasingly important for building trustworthy artificial intelligence, improving scientific discovery, and enabling smarter systems in healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and national security. This project will provide travel support for approximately ten graduate and advanced undergraduate students from U.S. colleges and universities to attend ISWC 2026 in Bari, Italy. Priority will be given to students who have accepted papers and to those from institutions with limited travel resources. By enabling students to present their work, receive mentoring, and build international collaborations, this project will strengthen the U.S. workforce in artificial intelligence and data science. The award will broaden participation in international research and help ensure that the United States remains a leader in open, trustworthy, and interoperable AI technologies. This project will support U.S.-based students participating in the 25th International Semantic Web Conference, the premier venue for research on knowledge graphs, ontologies, data interoperability, logical reasoning, and explainable artificial intelligence. Students will be selected through a competitive application process that considers research quality, conference participation, and financial need. Awardees will attend technical sessions, present peer-reviewed research, and participate in the Doctoral Consortium and mentoring activities designed to provide guidance on research and career development. The project will assess outcomes through post-conference reports describing collaborations formed, feedback received, and knowledge shared at participants’ home institutions. By increasing student access to this international research community, the project will accelerate advances in knowledge-driven AI and strengthen U.S. leadership in semantic technologies and trustworthy data systems. 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. NSF Award ID: 2622206 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Oshani Seneviratne | Institution: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, TROY, NY | Award Amount: $12,000 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2622206 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2622206.html