Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the paradigm of scientific research, moving beyond simply analyzing research data to proposing experimental conditions, learning from experimental results, and designing subsequent experiments. Particularly in materials science and chemistry, where vast amounts of data are generated and analyzed, the self-driving laboratory (SDL)—which integrates materials data, AI, and experimental automation—is emerging as a promising approach to future scientific research.
The
Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), led by President Dr. Seokmin Shin, held the “KRICT R&D Forum: Materials Data, AI, and Self-Driving Labs (SDL)” on September 29 at the auditorium on the fourth floor of Didimdol Plaza at KRICT’s main campus in Daejeon.
Organized as part of KRICT’s Global Forum Series commemorating its 50th anniversary, the forum brought together experts in materials science and chemistry from Korea and abroad to discuss how digital transformation is reshaping research and development. The participants shared research strategies and perspectives on materials data construction and standardization, AI-driven materials discovery, and research automation.
Experts from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) in Germany, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, Seoul National University (SNU) in Korea, the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in Japan, Tsinghua University (THU) in China, and KRICT participated as speakers.
The morning session was chaired by Prof. Hyungjun Kim of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Prof. Christoph J. Brabec of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) presented “Discovering Design Principles for Emerging Semiconductors and Applications.” Prof. Sang Soo Han of Seoul National University (SNU) then presented “Self-Driving Laboratory for Materials Science and Chemistry.” This was followed by Dr. Giovanni Pizzi of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), who presented “From Curated Materials Data on Materials Cloud to Self-Driving Laboratories: An Open Digital-Infrastructure Perspective.”
The afternoon session was chaired by Prof. Yonghyuk Lee of Dongguk University. Dr. Woojin Choi of KRICT presented “Materials Data Standardization for AI-ready Data in Korea,” while Dr. Yibin Xu of the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) presented “Evolving Data Infrastructure for Battery Materials Research.” Prof. Xiaonan Wang of Tsinghua University (THU) then presented “From Foundation Models to AI Agents: Closed-Loop Discovery across Energy Materials and Systems.”
Through the forum, KRICT shared global research trends toward integrating materials data, AI, and automated experimentation. KRICT plans to use the forum as an opportunity to strengthen its R&D capabilities and expand international research collaboration in these fields.
“Advances in AI and data technologies are transforming the very way researchers conduct experiments and discover new materials,” said KRICT President Dr. Seokmin Shin. “I hope this forum will provide an opportunity to share perspectives on the future direction of chemical research with leading researchers from around the world and foster new research innovations driven by data and AI.”
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KRICT is a non-profit research institute funded by the Korean government. Since its foundation in 1976, KRICT has played a leading role in advancing national chemical technologies in the fields of chemistry, material science, environmental science, and chemical engineering. Now, KRICT is moving forward to become a globally leading research institute tackling the most challenging issues in the field of Chemistry and Engineering and will continue to fulfill its role in developing chemical technologies that benefit the entire world and contribute to maintaining a healthy planet. More detailed information on KRICT can be found at
https://www.krict.re.kr/eng/