Conference Report by Wendy Warr

On 1st-3rd March 2022 the AI4SD conference took place at Chilworth Manor in Southampton and we now have a fantastic report by Wendy Warr. You can read this here: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/471408/.

Rest assured you will still be hearing from us!

We are still planning to run some AI4SD events in conjunction with other initiatives such as the Royal Society of Chemistry's Chemical Information & Computer Applications Group (CICAG) and the Physical Sciences Data-science Service (PSDS) and the Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI) Initiative.

We are still working hard to finalise the last set of resources from the most recent events so keep checking out our YouTube Channel.

There are now a selection of videos from our Machine Learning Summer School in June 2022.

Please check these out on our YouTube Channel: ML Summer School Playlist

Dr Samantha Kanza and Dr Nicola Knight interviewed Professor Jeremy Frey to form a case study on openness and transparency in Chemistry. You can read the full case study here: https://osf.io/w32dh/

Openness and transparency constitute a foundational principle for research integrity, as set out in the UK Concordat to Support Research Integrity. Openness can promote rigour, constructive scrutiny, accountability and can enable others to build on research. However, it can also bring challenges. Critically, what openness and transparency can and should mean varies across disciplines and fields of study. This is one of a series of case studies in a wide range of disciplines that illustrate these differences. The series is intended to enable researchers to see similarities and differences between fields, and to inform those supporting open research through, for example, training, policies or incentives. This Case Study is based on a single interview with Professor Jeremy Frey, and is therefore illustrative rather than representative.

The Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI) initiative is an EPSRC Digital Research Infrastructure project that has been funded to create a more integrated data infrastructure within the physical sciences. Despite the growing use of digital tools in physical sciences, research infrastructure is still fragmented across many systems. The aim of PSDI is to enable researchers in the physical sciences to handle data more easily by connecting the different data infrastructures they use. PSDI will connect and enhance existing infrastructure in Physical Sciences.

An initial pilot phase took place from Nov 2022 - Mar 2023 (Grant EP/W032252/1) and work is just beginning on Phase 1b where further engagement and design is being undertaken alongside development work on the technology platform and demonstrator pathfinders. You can find out more information about the PSDI initiative on their website: https://www.psdi.ac.uk/ or on Twitter @PSDI_UK where updates will be posted as their work begins.

As some of you may have seen from our new AI4SD Instagram Account, AI4SD has a new mascot! It gives us great pleasure to introduce SharkCat!

Sharkcat is somewhat of an ML guru, and is highly dedicated to accelerating scientific discovery using AI and ML methods. He is a stickler for high quality data, woe betide you if he spots any inconsistent datasets or finds out that you have submitted a research paper without the proper supplementary data! Follow us on instagram at @aiscinet to keep up to date with Sharkcats latest exploits!

OntoTrans are running a social media use survey under the Umbrella of the EU H2020 Project Ontotrans https://ontotrans.eu/ on how individuals use/don't use social media in their professional life (passive and active), with the emphasis on Linked-in, Twitter and Instagram.

The study is anonymous and the results will be shared with the community so they can improve their professional usage of social media and gain a wider audience.

They are kindly asking for some contributions and would really appreciate it if our Network+ members would complete the survey: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/SocialMediaSurveyProfessionals.

About OntoTrans: OntoTrans are known for quality surveys and open source sharing of results, which can be seen with "Business Models and Sustainability for Materials Modelling Software" https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2541723.

EPSRCs Manufacturing and the Circular Economy theme is inviting expressions of interest to attend one of two 1-day in-person community and stakeholder workshop to inform understanding of the priorities and opportunities for research and innovation in driving a sustainable, resilient, thriving, and productive UK manufacturing sector and a truly circular economy.

Information on the events can be found below:
- Swindon 31 January 2023
- Manchester 9 February 2023

The expression of interest survey contains strategic questions, with the responses feeding into the workshop activities as well as the Manufacturing and the Circular Economy themes ongoing understanding of community priorities, and as such it would be useful to have a wide range of submissions, even for those not attending the workshops in person. The survey will close on the 9th January 2023, for both applications to attend the workshop and input into the priority focused questions.