Accelerated Research

Taking a new material from the laboratory to a product traditionally takes 10–20 years. The energy transition cannot wait that long. ATLAB combines high-throughput experiments and artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up the discovery of new materials.

In high-throughput experimentation, we make and measure many material compositions in parallel instead of one sample at a time. For example, a single film can change composition gradually across its surface, so one sample covers a whole family of materials. We share selected datasets openly, so that other groups can reuse them. Large, well-documented datasets are the basis for reliable AI.

We use AI tools that help researchers plan experiments, analyse data and search the scientific literature. Step by step, we are moving towards self-driving laboratories, where robots carry out experiments and AI decides which experiment to run next. People set the goals, and the cycle of making, measuring and learning runs faster.