NSF awards $20M to Northwestern for first public AI protein-engineering cloud lab
MichaelCJewett · x · 2026-08-15
The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded Northwestern University $20 million over four years to establish the nation's first publicly accessible, AI-powered cloud laboratory for protein engineering — the DREAM Cloud Lab — aiming to dramatically accelerate new medicines, sustainable materials, and agricultural biotech.
Key facts
- DREAM is among 20 inaugural NSF-funded Programmable Cloud Laboratory (PCL) test beds forming a nationwide network of AI-enabled, remotely accessible labs, letting scientists program experiments remotely instead of buying expensive instruments.
- Housed in Northwestern's Center for Synthetic Biology and co-located with the Querrey InQbation startup hub, DREAM will serve as the protein-engineering hub of the PCL network, sharing data, AI models, and best practices.
- Co-PIs Julius B. Lucks (Northwestern) and Michael Jewett (Stanford) were also named Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholars.
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