Become an independent investigator.
The Physical AI Investigator Program gives an exceptional early-career researcher an independent appointment and full PI authority at BMI — the standing required to launch your own Physical AI research line and compete for early-career funding as a principal investigator, with hands-on grant-writing mentorship the whole way.
An appointment that makes you a PI.
Most early-career awards require a faculty appointment and PI status. This program confers exactly that, at a 501(c)(3) research institute.
An independent investigator
An Investigator (research faculty) appointment at BMI — a 501(c)(3) research institute — carrying the full PI authority that early-career awards require.
Your own research line
Define and lead your own program inside one of the five research groups — your agenda, your results, your name on the grant.
Grant-writing, coached
Hands-on coaching to scope, write, and submit competitive proposals as PI — from specific aims through budget and review.
Platforms and support
Access to BMI's airframes, hardware, and sponsored-programs office, alongside the institute's research groups and infrastructure.
The awards it positions you for.
PI authority is the key these mechanisms turn on. The program prepares you to compete for them as an independent investigator.
Young Faculty Award
Open to faculty and equivalent appointments at nonprofit research institutions — the appointment is the key it turns on.
CAREER
The foundation's flagship award for early-career investigators building an integrated research program.
Young Investigator Programs
The service early-career awards — ARO, ONR, and AFOSR — for independent investigators in defense-relevant science.
SBIR / STTR and BAAs
Research contracts and topic calls you can pursue as PI, including dual-use autonomy and perception work.
Eligibility for any specific award is set by that solicitation. Some defense awards require U.S. citizenship or permanent residency.
Who it's for.
We're looking for researchers ready to lead.
- Early-career researchers — postdoctoral or equivalent — ready to run their own program.
- A research vision that fits one of the five Physical AI groups: perception, manipulation, learning & sim-to-real, digital twins, or multi-agent autonomy.
- Evidence you can lead a line of work.
From appointment to independence.
Four steps from the day you arrive to a funded program of your own.
Appointment
You join as an Investigator with PI authority, affiliated with the research group your work fits.
Research line
Stand up your program and put your first proposals in front of reviewers within months — coached end to end.
Independence
Win external funding as PI and grow the line into a lab of your own.
Advancement
A promotion track as your program matures — with an optional path to spin out what you build.
Tell us what you'd lead.
Send your CV, a short statement of the research line you'd build, and the award you'd target. We'll take it from there.