Federal Grant Award Summary

North Carolina State University received a $509,248 CAREER (Faculty Early Career Development) award from the National Science Foundation's Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) on April 15, 2026, with completion targeted for March 31, 2031. This project grant supports the development of foundational research in robust reinforcement learning (RL) that addresses critical gaps between theoretical understanding and practical deployment of data-driven control systems. The primary deliverables include formal theoretical frameworks connecting algorithmic robust statistics with reinforcement learning, optimization, and control theory to provide non-asymptotic performance guarantees for decision-making systems that operate under real-world conditions characterized by noisy data, heavy-tailed probability distributions, out-of-distribution samples, and adversarial corruption.

Beyond core research outputs, the award integrates educational and broader impact components through the development of new data science curriculum courses, industry outreach initiatives, and engagement with local high school teachers via the institution's Science House outreach unit. The research outcomes are intended to enable reliable deployment of RL algorithms in safety-critical autonomous systems applications, including self-driving vehicles, robotics, and healthcare analytics, where tolerance for error is minimal. The project comprises three interlinked research thrusts collectively designed to advance the theoretical and practical foundations of robust data-driven decision making and control in complex engineering systems.