---
title: UMD to Lead DARPA-Funded Effort to Accelerate Mathematical Discovery With AI
date: 2026-03-23T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/umd-to-lead-darpa-funded-effort-to-accelerate-mathematical-discovery-with-ai"
section: Articles
---
# UMD to Lead DARPA-Funded Effort to Accelerate Mathematical Discovery With AI

*March 23, 2026* — by [Melissa Brachfeld](/author/melissa-brachfeld)


> $2.6M GENIUS Project Aims to Create AI ‘Co-authors’ for Complex Math Research

*Adobe Stock 277623632 1920x1080 — With $2.6M in federal funding, a team of researchers from UMD and MIT will develop AI-driven “co-authors” capable of helping mathematicians break down extremely complex problems and uncover new insights. (Image by Adobe Stock)*

The University of Maryland will lead a new cross-institutional research effort designed to dramatically accelerate mathematical discovery by combining advanced artificial intelligence (AI) with deep human expertise in computer science and mathematics.

As mathematicians tackle increasingly complex questions—from cybersecurity to algorithm design used to verify software in aerospace, healthcare, and autonomous vehicles—researchers aim to develop AI systems that can reason strategically alongside human experts, helping address problems whose scale and complexity have long limited progress.

To meet this challenge, researchers at Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have launched Generative Exploration for Novel Inference in Unsolved Mathematics (GENIUS). The initiative is supported by a $2.6 million award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through its Exponentiating Mathematics ([expMath](https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/expmath-exponential-mathematics)) program.

The project will develop AI “co-authors” capable of helping mathematicians break down extremely complex problems and uncover new insights.

GENIUS seeks to move AI beyond the current systems toward tools capable of deeper, more structured reasoning, said Mohammad Hajiaghayi, the Jack and Rita G. Minker Professor of Computer Science at Maryland and lead principal investigator.

“We are capturing the hidden scaffolding behind expert human reasoning—including failed attempts and decomposition strategies—and turning that into trainable structure for AI systems,” said Hajiaghayi, who has an appointment in the [University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies](https://www.umiacs.umd.edu/) (UMIACS) and is also active in the [Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland](https://aim.umd.edu/) (AIM). “If successful, this will fundamentally change how complex proofs and new mathematical insights are generated.”


*People stand around a whiteboard while a man points to equations — UMD researchers working on the GENIUS project include (from left) Ph.D. students Arshia Soltani and Danny Mittal, ISR Research Professor Reza Ghanadan, computer science Professor Mohammad Hajiaghayi, and Ph.D. student Iman Gholami. (Photo courtesy of UMIACS)*


**Sidebar note:**

**AI at Maryland**

The University of Maryland is shaping the future of artificial intelligence by forging solutions to the world’s most pressing issues through collaborative research, training the leaders of an AI-infused workforce and applying AI to strengthen our economy and communities.

Read [more](https://today.umd.edu/topic/artificial-intelligence) about how UMD embraces AI’s potential for the public good—without losing sight of the human values that power it.





**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Artificial Intelligence](https://today.umd.edu/topic/artificial-intelligence), [Computer Science](https://today.umd.edu/topic/computer-science), [Mathematics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/mathematics), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland](https://today.umd.edu/topic/artificial-intelligence-interdisciplinary-institute-at-maryland), [University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies](https://today.umd.edu/topic/university-of-maryland-institute-for-advanced-computer-studies), [A. James Clark School of Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/james-clark-school-engineering), [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)