| Description | Where computational science meets experiment: Self-driving laboratories for materials discovery To face the challenges of the 21st century, modern society requires the rapid discovery of better advanced and structural materials. These, in turn, can help alleviate needs of several sectors that range from health to energy to the environment. Scientific progress is relatively slow in comparison to the timescale of the problems at hand. It is widely recognized that we need to undertake massive immediate action in the timescale of a decade to enable a transition to a sustainable economy and energy systems to avoid catastrophic problems related to climate change. The current COVID19 crisis underscores the much needed agility to solve problems that relate to molecules and materials in the area of health. Our laboratory’s current research aims to accelerate scientific discovery by integrating several disciplines that used to collaborate with each other, but that in our opinion now should merge into a new field of accelerated science. These disciplines include traditional chemistry and materials science, artificial intelligence, data science, analytical and physical chemistry, and robotics. By concentrating on the workflow of scientific discovery and optimization, the concept of a materials acceleration platform or self-driving lab emerges. In this talk, I will describe the components of these platforms and our own efforts to either build them in our laboratory or collaborate with others. I will describe examples in the areas of organic materials and process optimization for the production of pharmaceuticals. |
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