Accelerating scientific discovery with ChatGPT for Academic Researchers

We believe the benefits of frontier AI should not be concentrated in a few companies and well-resourced labs. Scientific progress depends on researchers asking the right questions, testing new ideas, and building on what others have discovered. Our role is to put powerful tools in their hands—and work alongside them to design models that accelerate their research while keeping them in control.

We’re introducing ChatGPT for Academic Researchers, a program that will give 100,000 researchers at selected academic institutions free access to our frontier models. The program will help researchers across the sciences, mathematics, and engineering take on advanced problems, accelerate discovery, and improve productivity, from preparing grant applications to testing hypotheses.

We’re starting with 10,000 researchers this summer, with access already available at institutions such as the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and École normale supérieure (ENS). We plan to expand to 100,000 researchers through 2027. Participants will have access to our frontier models, including GPT‑5.6⁠ Sol Pro at launch, and can invite up to four collaborators from their institution. Workspaces include business-grade privacy and security protections, and data is not used to train our models by default. Researchers can use tools and skills to support work ranging from genomic analysis and protein modeling to literature reviews, grant writing, and publishing.

The program also includes training, hands-on support, and opportunities to learn from other researchers and share feedback with us.

For institutions with ChatGPT Edu, free access granted through this program will be coordinated through the institution's workspace. Learn more about ChatGPT Edu and how OpenAI supports higher education.

ChatGPT for Academic Researchers is part of a commitment of more than $250 million through 2027 to support external scientific research and discovery. That includes NextGenAI, our $50 million initiative supporting research institutions, and our work with the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission⁠ to bring frontier AI to researchers at national laboratories and universities. Together, these efforts reflect our belief that scientific progress accelerates when more researchers have the tools to pursue their own ideas.

AI is becoming a more capable research tool faster than many expected. Each week, roughly 1.3 million people use ChatGPT for advanced science and mathematics, generating about 8.4 million messages.

The shift is especially visible in mathematics. In the past six months, AI has moved from occasional use on isolated problems to a more regular part of mathematical research. A growing number of papers now acknowledge ChatGPT’s contribution, reflecting how quickly researchers are adopting these tools in their work.

Researchers use ChatGPT and Codex across nearly every stage of scientific work. ChatGPT helps researchers interrogate ideas, acquire knowledge, generate hypotheses, and communicate their findings. Codex supports research execution and formal analysis, including writing code and analyzing results.

These patterns are showing up in research. Physicist Rogerio Jorge and his team are using AI to develop open-source fusion research software used by industry and national laboratories to design fusion energy devices. In theoretical computer science, researchers Barna Saha, Yinzhan Xu, and Christopher Ye used GPT‑5.5 Pro to develop a proof establishing new limits on how efficiently computers can solve high-dimensional geometry problems, then validated and refined the results themselves.

Researchers using these tools most intensively are also taking on more ambitious work. Those in the top 20% of AI usage within their field are almost twice as likely as their peers to ask AI to take on tasks estimated to require four hours or more: nearly 7% of their requests, compared with 3.5% among other researchers in the same field.

Our strategy is not to decide which scientific problems deserve attention or try to solve them all ourselves. It is to put capable tools in the hands of the research community and let researchers pursue the questions they know best.

Washiriki watapata ufikiaji bila malipo wa miundo yetu ya AI ya kiwango cha juu zaidi kupitia ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work na Codex, ikiwemo familia ya miundo ya GPT‑5.6⁠ wakati wa uzinduzi. Pia watapata utafiti wa kina uliopanuliwa, viwango vya juu vya matumizi na madirisha makubwa zaidi ya muktadha. Kwa pamoja, uwezo huu unasaidia uwazaji wa kisayansi, utekelezaji unaojiendesha na mitiririko ya kazi ya utafiti katika taaluma mbalimbali.

GPT‑5.6 Terra husawazisha uwezo na ufanisi kwa utafiti wa kila siku, GPT‑5.6 Luna hutoa majibu ya haraka kwa kazi nyepesi, na GPT‑5.6 Sol hushughulikia matatizo magumu zaidi ya kisayansi na kihisabati. Kwenye FrontierMath Tier 4, inayopima uwazaji wa kihisabati wa kiwango cha utafiti, GPT‑5.6 Sol hupata 83%, ikilinganishwa na 72.5% ya GPT‑5.5. Kwenye GeneBench Pro, inayotathmini uchanganuzi changamano wa data za kibayolojia na uwazaji wa kisayansi, GPT‑5.6 Sol Pro hutatua 31.5% ya kazi.

Watafiti wanaweza kutumia zaidi ya ujuzi 75 wa sayansi ya viumbe⁠(fungua katika dirisha jipya) unaohusu jenetiki, jenomiki, upangaji mfuatano, uchanganuzi wa seli moja, uundaji wa protini na ugunduzi wa dawa. Viunganishi vinasaidia utafiti katika taaluma mbalimbali kwa kutoa ufikiaji wa machapisho ya kisayansi, hifadhidata za umma za jenomu na kliniki, picha za satelaiti, madaftari ya kikokotozi, mifumo ya data na vidhibiti vya marejeleo.

Codex inaweza kusaidia kuandika na kutatua hitilafu za msimbo, kuchanganua seti za data na kuunda mitiririko ya kazi inayoweza kurudiwa. ChatGPT Work inaweza kusaidia miradi ya muda mrefu kama kutafuta fursa za ufadhili, kuandaa maombi ya ruzuku, kupitia machapisho, kuandika miswada na kuunda nyenzo za kuwasilisha matokeo.

Watafiti watakuwa na viwango tofauti vya kuanzia kutumia AI. Baadhi wanaweza kuwa wanatumia zana hizi kwa mara ya kwanza; wengine wanaweza kuwa wanatengeneza matumizi ya kiwango cha juu katika nyanja zao.

Mpango utatoa mafunzo yanayolingana na viwango tofauti vya uzoefu, kuanzia kuanza kutumia zana na kuboresha mitiririko ya kazi hadi matumizi ya kiwango cha juu katika utafiti. Washiriki wataweza kufikia wataalamu wanaofahamu mitiririko ya kazi ya utafiti, ikiwemo kupata usaidizi wa kuunganisha zana hizi katika kazi zao.

Tunapoona ugunduzi wa watafiti, tunapanga kuunda fursa zaidi za wao kushiriki mbinu za vitendo, kujifunza kutoka kwa wenzao na kuangazia matumizi katika taaluma mbalimbali. Maoni yao yatatusaidia kuelewa mahali ambapo miundo yetu ni muhimu, inapopungukiwa na jinsi ya kuifanya iwe na thamani zaidi kwa jumuiya ya watafiti.

Mpango wa kwanza uko wazi kwa watafiti wanaotimiza masharti katika taasisi teule za kitaaluma. Taasisi zinazostahiki⁠(fungua katika dirisha jipya) lazima ziwe vyuo au vyuo vikuu vinavyotambulika, vinavyotoa digrii na vyenye kiwango cha juu cha shughuli za utafiti.

Waombaji watahitajika kuthibitisha uhusiano wao na taasisi na kutoa taarifa kuhusu utafiti wao unaoendelea na matumizi ya kisayansi wanayokusudia. Watafiti walioidhinishwa wanaweza kuwaalika hadi washirika wanne kutoka taasisi yao. Kila mshirika lazima pia athibitishe uhusiano wake na taasisi na atahesabiwa katika jumla ya akaunti za mpango.

Maombi yamefunguliwa leo. Unaweza kukagua vigezo vya kustahiki na kutuma ombi hapa⁠(fungua katika dirisha jipya).