Interested in AI applications in chemistry? In that case you may want to join ChemAI: Entering the fifth paradigm for chemistry on Thursday 16 November at the Amsterdam Science Park. ‘We want to strengthen the connections between companies and chemistry researchers working on AI and get new collaborations off the ground,’ says Bernd Ensing, associate professor of computational chemistry and head of the AI4Science Lab at the University of Amsterdam.   

The event’s programme includes lectures and workshops by leading researchers, including Max Welling (University of Amsterdam / Microsoft), Matthias Beller (Leibniz Institute for Catalysis), Francesca Grisoni (Eindhoven University of Technology) and Wilhelm Huck (Radboud University). There will also be a panel discussion ‘AI’s Data Dilemma: Facing small and biased data sets’ with experts from IBM Research, NVIDIA and Microsoft, among others.   

According to Ensing, there are clear opportunities for more collaboration between academic groups and companies. ‘We have all kinds of AI tools that can be used for chemical problems in an industrial setting and companies have very interesting, real-world datasets that we would like to work with.’ 

Fashion show 

However, the term industry is not just about the big, well-known names, but certainly also about the large group of less visible, but highly innovative smaller players that often originate from an academic idea. ‘Here at the Science Park, there are many interesting startups doing “something” with AI. For example, in developing electronic logs, for new tools to scout technology or for managing a crystal database.’ All these parties will have the chance to pitch their activities and challenges at a “company fashion show”.   

Besides stimulating mutual contacts and the exchange of knowledge and ideas, Ensing hopes that seeds will be plant for new projects and partnerships. ‘Ultimately, we hope to lay the foundations for new consortia with which we can jointly benefit form funding opportunities. During the event, we would like to find out which companies are interested in further cooperation.’   

Students 

And there is another important goal, Ensing says. ‘There is a lot of talent here at campus, and the student numbers are growing. We would like to retain that talent for the field and for the Netherlands, so we hope new opportunities for internships will pop up. Ultimately, this is not only important for our students, but also for the companies because they have a serious need for well-trained people.’