Federal Grant Award Summary

Yale University received a $196,737 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), awarded July 1, 2025, with completion targeted for July 31, 2026. The project, "Taming Nonlinear Inverse Problems: Theory and Algorithms," delivers theoretical and algorithmic research products addressing the computational challenges of solving nonlinear inverse problems in large-scale sensing and imaging applications. The research team will develop efficient algorithms with provable performance guarantees, characterize fundamental trade-offs between resource constraints and solution quality, and validate findings on real-world datasets.

The deliverables include scientific publications and technical documentation advancing optimization methods for nonlinear inverse problems; educational products such as course materials and monographs on nonlinear inverse problems in data science; and workforce development through mentoring of graduate and undergraduate students with diverse backgrounds. Additionally, the project will produce dissemination activities including special sessions at appropriate conference venues, facilitating cross-fertilization among signal processing, inverse problems, optimization theory, and machine learning disciplines. These products collectively aim to establish foundational techniques applicable to modern data-intensive scientific discovery and quality-of-life improvements.