AWS and UNC researcher build a prototype agentic AI tool to streamline grant funding

This article announces GROW (Grant Research Opportunity Wizard), an open-source agentic AI tool developed by AWS and UNC researcher Dr. Adam Kiefer to streamline grant funding discovery and proposal development for researchers.

• GROW version one helped researchers draft NIH proposals efficiently using generative AI
• GROW version two adds agentic AI capabilities to autonomously discover global funding opportunities
• Tool crawls Grants.gov, federal agencies, and international sources like Horizon Europe multiple times daily
• Researchers build customized profiles by uploading CVs or linking online profiles
• AI matches opportunities to researcher expertise with matching scores for precision targeting
• Generates proposal templates formatted to specific funder requirements
• Powered by Amazon Bedrock, Bedrock AgentCore, and Amazon OpenSearch Service
• Includes guardrails protecting sensitive research data with full organizational control
• Early estimates suggest up to 30% efficiency gains for researchers
• Version two targeted for open-source release early 2026 on AWS Samples GitHub

GROW addresses researchers spending 44% of time on administrative tasks by automating grant discovery and proposal development, enabling focus on actual research and strategic submissions.