Dataset Proposal Competition

Foundational data collections—from the Protein Data Bank that revolutionized structural biology, to ImageNet for computer vision, Common Crawl for language models, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey for astronomy, the UK Biobank for biomedical research, and the Human Cell Atlas for cell biology—have each unlocked new research paradigms and propelled landmark advances in AI. Which dataset will trigger the next leap in AI-accelerated discovery?

Sponsored by Renaissance Philanthropy, our workshop invites proposals that describe new, openly shareable datasets capable of unlocking fundamental advances in any branch of science—including fields that have yet to benefit fully from AI. Winning teams will share a US $10 000 prize pool, present their vision to the NeurIPS audience, and receive the opportunity to connect with Renaissance Philanthropy for follow-on philanthropic investment to support dataset generation.

Submissions will be judged on (i) clarity and scientific importance of the task, (ii) feasibility, originality, and shareability of the proposed dataset, and (iii) the potential for rapid, widespread impact across disciplines. Proposals that outline practical, effective paths for data generation are strongly encouraged. By harnessing the diverse expertise of the NeurIPS community, we aim to surface bold, data-centric visions that transcend today’s benchmarks and catalyze progress in under-served scientific frontiers.

What your proposal must cover

• AI task definition – What scientific question will the dataset enable? Is it a prediction, generation, or other task?
• Dataset rationale – Why is this dataset the bottleneck? Describe the data type(s), scale, resolution, and labels/metadata needed.
• Acceleration potential – How will access to this dataset transform model development and downstream science?

Recommended (optional) details

• Data-creation pathway – Where will the data come from? (e.g., public archives, new experiments, cross-company sharing, simulation pipelines, privacy-preserving consortium).
• Cost & scalability – Rough budget or strategy for cost-effective generation at scale, including new platform technologies that lower the cost of generating the data.

Important Dates (Anywhere on Earth)

• Submission Deadline: Aug 22, 2025
• Acceptance Notification Date: Sep 22, 2025

Submission Instructions

• Length: 2 pages of main text max — unlimited space for references and appendices
• Submission site: OpenReview
• Anonymity: authors will have an option to keep their submissions private

About Renaissance Philanthropy

Renaissance Philanthropy is a nonprofit organization that fuels a 21st-century renaissance by increasing the ambition of philanthropists, scientists and innovators. In the first year, Renaissance Philanthropy catalyzed more than $214M in philanthropic funding for science, technology, and innovation, launching 10+ initiatives across AI, education, climate, health, and scientific infrastructure. The organization designs time-bound, thesis-driven funds led by field experts and inspires talent to take action through playbooks and communities. From accelerating mathematical discovery to expanding talent mobility, Renaissance Philanthropy is building the connective tissue between exceptional ideas and resources to create breakthroughs that transform entire fields.