📍 Venue: SISTER – Renold Building, 32a Altrincham Street, Manchester, M1 7JR
Artificial intelligence and automation are reshaping scientific research, offering both exciting possibilities and challenges. We will explore how AI can accelerate discovery in materials chemistry and related disciplines, highlighting emerging trends, practical applications and collaborative opportunities for scientists and innovators.
In partnership with Encode: AI for Science and Renaissance Philanthropy
Encode: AI for Science is a Pillar VC‑backed initiative that accelerates scientific breakthroughs by connecting AI innovators with world‑class research, funding, and community support.
Renaissance Philanthropy fuels a 21st‑century renaissance by connecting philanthropists with bold science, technology, and innovation initiatives. They advise donors, surface breakthrough ideas, and incubate ambitious programs that accelerate progress across fields and drive impactful change.
This event is sponsored by AIchemy
AIchemy is a UK wide research hub uniting interdisciplinary teams from Imperial College London, University of Liverpool, University of Cambridge and University of Southampton.
Powered by Advanced Research + Invention Agency
Step into a space where every conversation could spark something new. Enjoy music, refreshments, and a lively atmosphere designed to bring people together, whether you’re exchanging ideas, discovering collaborators, or simply sharing a laugh. This is the perfect moment to unwind, connect, and let serendipity guide your evening.
Join us before the main event to explore the Innovator Showcase, where you’ll have the chance to meet the talented startups. Be the first to experience the innovative technologies and forward-thinking ideas on display.
🧪 Solve Chemistry helps pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies speed up process development for organic synthesis. Their automated lab collects high quality kinetic and yield data in a FAIR manner, powering proprietary AI models that deliver actionable insights unlike any other tool.
🔬 Encode: AI for Science Fellowship is built on a bold idea, the best minds in AI should be curing diseases and feeding continents, not building chatbots, giving researchers the freedom to build something that truly matters. Explore more about the 12 month fellowship here.
💻 Opsight is making AI guided experiment optimisation accessible, with no coding required, and every hypothesis, decision and result tracked. Opsight is currently deployed in active catalytic materials discovery and supports over 30 built in experiment benchmarks across chemistry, materials science and engineering.
In collaboration with EY and the GM Business Growth Hub
This workshop shows leaders how to integrate AI into business strategy by mapping critical human skills, prioritising task automation, and embedding governance so the workforce stays resilient and relevant.
This workshop is very popular and spaces are limited, so we recommend securing your spot to avoid disappointment. Please click on the following pre-registartion link HERE.
Join cartoonist Marc Jackson (THE BEANO, PHOENIX, and GOOF COMIC) for a crazy-fun, comics and cartoon art workshop!! You’ll learn how to create characters for comics, all the basics to how they can be made, whilst breaking the rules and having fun all at the same time. Let’s celebrate drawing without a safety net, and take away the concerns about getting things ‘right’ or having it ‘perfect’ Marc brings his own brand of lively comics making to your school, library, festival and events!
An introduction from Venture Café, followed by a warm welcome from Dean Thomas and Dr. Jean-François Ayme, introducing the evening’s theme of AI and Automation.
This panel discussion brings together senior voices from Merck, Pillar VC, Renaissance Philanthropy and ARIA to interrogate where AI is genuinely accelerating scientific discovery, and where expectations risk outpacing reality. The panel will explore automation’s impact on research productivity, reproducibility and scale, alongside the practical constraints of data quality, infrastructure and human judgement. Expect an honest discussion about hype versus hard evidence, what’s working now, and how funders, industry and academia can collaborate to turn promise into progress without losing scientific rigour.
Join cartoonist Marc Jackson (THE BEANO, PHOENIX, and GOOF COMIC) for a crazy-fun, comics and cartoon art workshop!! You’ll learn how to create characters for comics, all the basics to how they can be made, whilst breaking the rules and having fun all at the same time. Let’s celebrate drawing without a safety net, and take away the concerns about getting things ‘right’ or having it ‘perfect’ Marc brings his own brand of lively comics making to your school, library, festival and events!
In collaboration with EY and the GM Business Growth Hub
This workshop shows leaders how to integrate AI into business strategy by mapping critical human skills, prioritising task automation, and embedding governance so the workforce stays resilient and relevant.
This workshop is very popular and spaces are limited, so we recommend securing your spot to avoid disappointment. Please click on the following pre-registartion link HERE.
📍 Venue: SISTER – Renold Building, 32a Altrincham Street, Manchester, M1 7JR
Artificial intelligence and automation are reshaping scientific research, offering both exciting possibilities and challenges. We will explore how AI can accelerate discovery in materials chemistry and related disciplines, highlighting emerging trends, practical applications and collaborative opportunities for scientists and innovators.
In partnership with Encode: AI for Science and Renaissance Philanthropy
Encode: AI for Science is a Pillar VC‑backed initiative that accelerates scientific breakthroughs by connecting AI innovators with world‑class research, funding, and community support.
Renaissance Philanthropy fuels a 21st‑century renaissance by connecting philanthropists with bold science, technology, and innovation initiatives. They advise donors, surface breakthrough ideas, and incubate ambitious programs that accelerate progress across fields and drive impactful change.
This event is sponsored by AIchemy
AIchemy is a UK wide research hub uniting interdisciplinary teams from Imperial College London, University of Liverpool, University of Cambridge and University of Southampton.
Powered by Advanced Research + Invention Agency
Step into a space where every conversation could spark something new. Enjoy music, refreshments, and a lively atmosphere designed to bring people together, whether you’re exchanging ideas, discovering collaborators, or simply sharing a laugh. This is the perfect moment to unwind, connect, and let serendipity guide your evening.
Join us before the main event to explore the Innovator Showcase, where you’ll have the chance to meet the talented startups. Be the first to experience the innovative technologies and forward-thinking ideas on display.
🧪 Solve Chemistry helps pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies speed up process development for organic synthesis. Their automated lab collects high quality kinetic and yield data in a FAIR manner, powering proprietary AI models that deliver actionable insights unlike any other tool.
🔬 Encode: AI for Science Fellowship is built on a bold idea, the best minds in AI should be curing diseases and feeding continents, not building chatbots, giving researchers the freedom to build something that truly matters. Explore more about the 12 month fellowship here.
💻 Opsight is making AI guided experiment optimisation accessible, with no coding required, and every hypothesis, decision and result tracked. Opsight is currently deployed in active catalytic materials discovery and supports over 30 built in experiment benchmarks across chemistry, materials science and engineering.
In collaboration with EY and the GM Business Growth Hub
This workshop shows leaders how to integrate AI into business strategy by mapping critical human skills, prioritising task automation, and embedding governance so the workforce stays resilient and relevant.
This workshop is very popular and spaces are limited, so we recommend securing your spot to avoid disappointment. Please click on the following pre-registartion link HERE.
Join cartoonist Marc Jackson (THE BEANO, PHOENIX, and GOOF COMIC) for a crazy-fun, comics and cartoon art workshop!! You’ll learn how to create characters for comics, all the basics to how they can be made, whilst breaking the rules and having fun all at the same time. Let’s celebrate drawing without a safety net, and take away the concerns about getting things ‘right’ or having it ‘perfect’ Marc brings his own brand of lively comics making to your school, library, festival and events!
An introduction from Venture Café, followed by a warm welcome from Dean Thomas and Dr. Jean-François Ayme, introducing the evening’s theme of AI and Automation.
This panel discussion brings together senior voices from Merck, Pillar VC, Renaissance Philanthropy and ARIA to interrogate where AI is genuinely accelerating scientific discovery, and where expectations risk outpacing reality. The panel will explore automation’s impact on research productivity, reproducibility and scale, alongside the practical constraints of data quality, infrastructure and human judgement. Expect an honest discussion about hype versus hard evidence, what’s working now, and how funders, industry and academia can collaborate to turn promise into progress without losing scientific rigour.
Join cartoonist Marc Jackson (THE BEANO, PHOENIX, and GOOF COMIC) for a crazy-fun, comics and cartoon art workshop!! You’ll learn how to create characters for comics, all the basics to how they can be made, whilst breaking the rules and having fun all at the same time. Let’s celebrate drawing without a safety net, and take away the concerns about getting things ‘right’ or having it ‘perfect’ Marc brings his own brand of lively comics making to your school, library, festival and events!
In collaboration with EY and the GM Business Growth Hub
This workshop shows leaders how to integrate AI into business strategy by mapping critical human skills, prioritising task automation, and embedding governance so the workforce stays resilient and relevant.
This workshop is very popular and spaces are limited, so we recommend securing your spot to avoid disappointment. Please click on the following pre-registartion link HERE.