What is a Funding Finder, and how can it augment research funding processes? Ranked as the third most useful agentic AI tool in a global community consultation organised by RDA and Microsoft, a Funding Finder has emerged as a priority tool for the research data community.
Participants joined us for a 1-hour online information session designed to inform and inspire the global research data community. This session took a deeper dive into a Funding Finder, exploring its features and functionalities and how to begin developing an agentic AI blueprint for such a tool. There was space for open discussion on the opportunities and challenges ahead, as well as suggestions for improvement.
Session Recording and Presentation Slides
Discussion Summary
Does the Funding Finder Address a Real Problem?
Attendees broadly agreed the tool tackles a genuine, time-consuming pain point, though several noted it must augment rather than replace research-officer roles and existing national/institutional support structures. Concerns were raised about overlapping with established players and about coverage: how comprehensive the tool would actually be compared with current solutions, especially for smaller institutions with limited budgets.
Risks of Overreach and Data Sensitivity
Data governance featured prominently, particularly IP disclosure risks when sharing unpublished research with AI tools, given differing international patent-filing rules. Running models locally was proposed as a mitigation, with the blueprint recommending technology-agnostic guidance so implementers choose data-handling approaches suited to their own risk tolerance, rather than the specification prescribing one.
Accuracy, Bias and Responsible Use
Participants stressed the tool should be editorial rather than generative when drafting proposals, given fears of AI ‘people-pleasing’, fabricated data, and homogenised, verbose text. A parallel was drawn with open-source communities being overwhelmed by AI-generated pull requests, raising questions about trust, contributor verification, and whether funders might themselves deploy AI to screen applicants.
Missing Features and Lessons Learned
Suggested additions included a bibliography/literature-review agent, funder-profiling analytics, collaborator identification, notifications, and training on successful past applications. Those already building similar tools emphasised starting small, involving genuine end-user perspectives, and treating this as a rare opportunity to contribute to a global, standards-body-style specification.
Background
This initiative built on the Global Community Consultation on Agentic AI in Research, which identified three priority agentic AI tools for the research community (1. Literature Librarian, 2. Data Director; and 3. Funding Finder). These information sessions marked the next step in that journey: equipping the community with the knowledge to contribute to the upcoming blueprint development for an open, technology-agnostic, priority AI agent.
All outputs from this work follow the RDA framework and guiding principles and will be openly available for adoption and reuse.
Online Sessions
Two sessions were available to accommodate different time zones:
📆 Session 1: Thursday 26 March, 05:00-06:00 UTC
📆 Session 2: Thursday 26 March, 16:00-17:00 UTC
Agenda
| Time (UTC) | Item | Lead |
|---|---|---|
| 05:00-05:10 | Welcome and Introduction | Connie Clare (RDA) |
| 05:10-05:20 | What is a Funding Finder? | Connie Clare (RDA) |
| 05:20-05:30 | What is a Blueprint? | Software Engineer (Microsoft) |
| 05:30-05:55 | Q&A (20 mins) | All |
| 05:55-06:00 | Closing remarks | Connie Clare (RDA) |
What was covered?
- What a Funding Finder could do and how it could augment research funding practice by scanning funding databases, matching opportunities to research ideas, and supporting the application process.
- Why a Funding Finder was ranked the third most useful agentic AI tool in the RDA and Microsoft global community consultation, and what that means for the research community.
- How to begin developing an agentic AI blueprint for a Funding Finder, including its key features and functionalities, and the opportunities and challenges of bringing such a tool to life.
Getting Involved
These sessions were open to all and free to attend. Whether you are new to the topic or already exploring agentic AI in your work, this was an opportunity to learn, ask questions, and help shape the future direction of this community-driven initiative.
For questions or comments, please contact RDA Community Development Manager, Connie Clare ([email protected]).
What is a Data Director?
A 1-hour online information session designed to inform and inspire the global research data community. This session took a deeper dive into a Data Director, exploring its features and functionalities and how to begin developing an agentic AI blueprint for such a tool. There was space for open discussion on the opportunities and challenges ahead, as well as suggestions for improvement.
