Dr. Scott Niekum, Texas Computer Science professor and director of the Personal Autonomous Robotics Lab (PeARL), has received a Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. This award is granted to select scientists and engineers at United States research institutions who received their PhDs or equivalent in the last seven years and show exceptional ability and promise for conducting creative research. The mission of this award is to foster creative basic research in science and engineering, enhance early career development of outstanding young investigators, and increase opportunities for the young investigators.

Dr. Niekum is one of 40 awardees, out of over 220 received proposals in a wide range of research areas. Dr. Niekum will receive a three year grant totaling $450,000, which will fund his work on robot learning from demonstration with auxiliary contextual data. Congratulations Dr. Scott Niekum!