AI Leader's Series: AI for Science – from strategy to delivery

AI for Science: one year on from the government's AI for Science Strategy

This event is part of techUK's AI Leader's Series, an event series equipping business leaders, policymakers, and technical professionals with timely, actionable insights on emerging AI trends. Each session translates complex developments into practical guidance, helping attendees make informed decisions about AI innovation, adoption and governance.

AI is beginning to change not just what science can discover, but how discovery happens.

Over the last few years, the cutting edge of AI for science has moved from prediction to action. AI systems have gone from predicting the structures of known proteins to designing entirely new ones, and are increasingly becoming autonomous participants in the research process itself, generating hypotheses, designing experiments and running them in self-driving labs. Over time, this could compress decades of scientific progress into years.

Taking place almost exactly a year on from the government's AI for Science Strategy, this event will take stock of what has been delivered and what comes next. Bringing together researchers, industry and government, it will explore two questions: what AI can now do at the frontier of science, and what the UK needs to put in place to realise that potential at scale, from compute and AI-ready data to funding, skills and adoption.

The afternoon will feature a keynote, two expert panels, and the chance for attendees to share their own work, followed by networking.

What will we cover

• What AI can now do at the frontier of science, from designing entirely new proteins to running experiments in autonomous, self-driving labs

• Where this is already delivering real breakthroughs, for example in drug discovery, protein design and materials science

• What the UK needs to put in place to realise that potential at scale, from compute and AI-ready data to funding, skills and adoption

• Where the clearest opportunity sits for UK businesses and SMEs, including access to the AI Research Resource (AIRR)

Agenda

Time | Session

14:00 | Arrivals and registration

14:30 | Opening remarks from techUK

14:40 | Keynote

14:55 | Panel 1: The frontier: what AI can now do in science

15:30 | Break

15:40 | Panel 2: The enablers and gaps: compute, data, funding, skills and adoption

16:15 | Attendee pitches and introductions

16:25 | Closing remarks and next steps

16:30 | Networking

17:00 | Event close

Full speaker line-up to be announced soon.

Get involved beyond this event

techUK members working on AI in research and science can engage year-round through the AI Hub and Innovation Hub.

For more information, please contact: