Machine learning collaborations accelerate materials discovery – Physics World

In 1863 five members of the Chōshū han in Japan made a secret journey to University College London in the UK to study. At the time of their departure, travel overseas was illegal in Japan, nonetheless all five students made an impact on the University that is commemorated to this day, and returned to establish institutions that augured a new era in their homeland, including the National Mint, the Japanese railways and the first Prime Minister. In the same spirit of international collaborations fostering pioneering innovations, materials and data scientists met at the Japanese Embassy in London on Friday 21st June during the "Season of Culture" to discuss "Global Trends in Research on Data-driven Discovery in Materials Science". The event was the 10th scholarly colloquium organized by the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials (STAM). Developments in data present an interesting example in science diplomacy where science and technology may facilitate a diplomatic agenda that in turn serves the interests of science.