OpenAI is introducing the Rosalind Academic Plan to give academic scientists access to GPT-Rosalind, its dedicated life sciences model. GPT-Rosalind combines frontier reasoning with the Rosalind Workbench, which enables specialized tool orchestration across medicinal chemistry, genomics, wet-lab assistance, and other scientific applications. The model is designed for deeper reasoning on complex biological questions, and approved researchers can use it through trusted access within safeguards designed for legitimate research.

Eligible labs at U.S. universities can receive up to 30 Business Standard seats at $0 per user per month for up to 12 months. GPT-Rosalind access is subject to trusted-access approval. The plan also includes access to all commercially available frontier OpenAI models, subject to plan usage limits. Research data shared through the plan is not used to train OpenAI models by default.

The announcement ties the plan to the role of foundational academic research, citing the Human Genome Project, CRISPR-Cas9, and decades of university mRNA research as breakthroughs that began in academic settings. OpenAI says distinguished academic labs are already exploring GPT-Rosalind in workflows such as protein design and understanding neurodegeneration. The stated areas of research include drug and protein design, including candidate drugs, therapeutic proteins, peptides, and enzymes, and optimizing their molecular interactions, selectivity, stability, and suitability for development.

Access is currently limited to academic labs at U.S. universities. Principal investigators and lab leads at universities without an existing OpenAI Enterprise agreement can apply on behalf of their labs through the trusted access process, while labs at universities with an existing agreement must apply through their university’s Enterprise access process. After approval, PIs and lab leads can activate free access for up to 30 named members, manage member permissions, and are responsible for their lab’s approved use. API access is not included at this time.

Before activation, OpenAI verifies the institution’s legitimacy and the PI or lab lead’s identity, reviews their professional background, institutional appointment, and authority to oversee lab access, assesses the lab’s affiliation, research activities, and intended use, and establishes clear responsibilities for the lab lead and a designated institutional safety contact. After activation, safeguards continue through monitoring and enforcement. For registered high-sensitivity use cases, safety checks account for the approved research context, and OpenAI may follow up with researchers to clarify work and confirm authorization. The approach is designed to detect potential misuse while reducing unnecessary interruptions to authorized work.

OpenAI says it is starting with academic labs as part of a broader effort to put useful AI tools in more scientists’ hands, supporting research that could lead to better disease understanding, treatments, and more resilient food systems.