Florida institute for national security
FINS Students Win UF AI Days’ “Gator Hack” for Human-Centered AI Research Tool
1st Place @ Hackathon Goes to FINS Entry “Plato’s Cave – A Human-Centered Agentic System for Validating Research Papers”
SMART Scholar Enrique Medici Visits AFTAC
At the Florida Institute for National security (FINS), we’re thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of one of our own — graduate student Enrique Medici. Guided by FINS faculty member Dr. Kyle Cameron Hartig, Enrique recently participated in the prestigious U.S. Air Force SMART Scholar Program and attended an immersive visit to the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) at Patrick Space Force Base on June 26, 2025.
FINS Celebrates Important Workforce Development Milestone with Graduation of 1st FTP Cohort
The Florida Institute for National Security (FINS) proudly marked a significant milestone this January with the successful completion of the inaugural cohort of the FINS Talent Pipeline (FTP) Program. The conclusion ceremony, held on campus on the 17th, celebrated not only the achievements of the students but also FINS’ commitment to meeting its mission of producing a talent pipeline of AI and data science-knowledgeable professionals in support of national security.
Affiliated Research Groups Spotlight
Led by individual FINS faculty members, each affiliated research team lends subject-matter expertise on a variety of topics germane to national security.
Applied Artificial Intelligence (AAIG) Group
The Applied Artificial Intelligence Group (AAIG) conducts research on a wide range of AI applications, including machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision. This team of experts works closely with government agencies, defense contractors, and other partners to develop innovative solutions that can be used to support a range of national security efforts.
The Data Science Research (DSR) Laboratory
The Data Science Research (DSR) Lab at the University of Florida focuses on large-scale data management, data mining and data analysis using technologies from database management Systems (DBMS’s), Statistical Machine Learning (SML), and Information Visualization. Such research in a Big Data era is called Data Science, which is a profession, a research agenda, as well as a sport! The goal of Data Science research is to build systems and algorithms to extract knowledge, find patterns, generate insights and predictions from diverse data for various applications and visualization.
The Optical Science & Nonproliferation (OSN) Group
Thrust Areas : 1) Remote Sensing, 2) Fundamental Plasma Physics & Diagnostics, 3) Data Science
The Natural Language Process (NLP) Lab
The UF Natural Language Processing (NLP) Research Lab conducts research on topics concerning the analysis and synthesis of multiple human languages. NLP Lab researchers apply techniques from sociolinguistic computing and machine learning and develop explanatory NLP representations designed for cross-disciplinary human-centered solutions.
The Social-Cognitive & Affective Development (Ebner) Lab
The Social-Cognitive and Affective Development Lab conducts research on social-cognitive and affective development in adulthood using behavioral, pharmacological, and neuroimaging methodologies.