Researchers at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego and UC San Diego School of Medicine have received two National Science Foundation (NSF) planning grants worth a combined $2 million under a new NSF initiative to invest in research collaborations between academia, industry, government and communities that enable capabilities beyond what is currently possible in either the private or public sectors. Called Convergence Accelerator awards, the first set of grants has been awarded to research teams, according to a recent NSF release. These projects will evaluate how employers can use sophisticated artificial intelligence tools to connect with the workers they need, while seeking ways to develop the future U.S. workforce with the universities that will educate people and the companies that will employ them. A total of 43 new awards totaling $39 million will support projects across the country. Both grants, which support one of NSF's'Big Ideas' called Harnessing the Data Revolution, are focused on the area of Open Knowledge Networks, which pool many types of information and ideas so they can be accessed and leveraged to create new understanding.