Transitioning from FAIR to AI Ready Data in the Physical Sciences

KEY DETAILS

  • DATE

    16 JULY 2026

  • TIME

    10:00 – 16:00

  • COST

    FREE

  • TALK SUBMISSION DEADLINE

    12 JUNE 2026

  • REGISTRATION DEADLINE

    30 JUNE 2026

EVENT LOCATION

In recent years, the physical sciences community has been generating increasingly large and complex datasets, at a scale that is now beyond what can be fully explored or analysed by humans alone. As a result, researchers are turning to AI and machine‑learning techniques, which have matured significantly and offer powerful new ways to extract insight from data. However, while the adoption of FAIR data principles has improved data sharing and reuse, experience is showing that FAIR does not necessarily mean AI‑ready. Many datasets remain difficult to use effectively in AI and Machine Learning models.

This interactive workshop has been co-created by the Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI) and the AI in Chemistry Hub (AIchemy). It aims to bring together researchers, data professional and infrastructure developers to facilitate knowledge exchange and explore what it truly means to be “AI Ready”. The workshop is comprised of invited presentations, lightning talks from participants and interactive discussion sessions. The talks will share current practices, highlighting successes and challenges, and the discussion sessions will explore the practical approaches and tools for evaluating and improving AI readiness.


Who Should Attend:

This in-person event is aimed at anyone interested in dataset standards, curation, and developing robust methods to assess the applicability and reliability of data for reuse. It will be particularly relevant for researchers and research software engineers working with data and AI/ML, data stewards and research data managers, infrastructure and platform developers, and scientists interested in enabling future reuse of their datasets.

Agenda

10:00-10:30Registration & Refreshments
10:30-10:35Housekeeping & Welcome
10:35-10:45Introduction to PSDI
10:45-10:55Introduction to AIchemy
10:55-11:10Setting the Scene: From FAIR to AI-Ready
11:10-11:25Coffee Break & Networking
11:25-12:45Invited Speakers
(Matthew Partridge, Aileen Day, Nessa Carson, Otello Roscioni)
12:45-13:30Networking Lunch
13:30-14:00Participant Lightning Talks
14:00-14:15Introduction to Discussion Sessions
14:15-14:45Discussion Sessions Part 1
14:45-15:00Coffee Break & Networking
15:00-15:30Discussion Sessions Part 2
15:30-16:00Feedback & Wrap Up

Call for Lightning Talks

We invite submissions for short lightning talks exploring the challenges, opportunities, and practical experiences involved in creating AI-ready datasets within the physical sciences.
 
This is an opportunity to share emerging ideas, real-world case studies, and lessons learned from working with data intended for AI and machine-learning applications. 

 Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Experiences in developing or curating AI-ready datasets
  • Challenges in preparing FAIR data for AI and machine learning use
  • Data quality, metadata, interoperability, and standardisation
  • Benchmarking, validation, and reproducibility
    Infrastructure, tooling, and workflow development
  • Community needs, open challenges, and proposed solutions

During registration, participants will be able to indicate their interest in presenting a lightning talk.

Talk Submission Deadline: 12th June


The organising team will review submissions and notify successful applicants by 26th June 2026.

Invited Speakers

Dr Matthew Partridge

Dr Matthew Partridge

University of Southampton

    Dr Aileen Day

    Dr Aileen Day

    University of Southampton

      Dr Nessa Carson

      Dr Nessa Carson

      AstraZeneca

        Dr Otello Roscioni

        Dr Otello Roscioni

        University of Southampton

          Contact Details

          For questions related to this event please contact the AIchemy project management team at info@aichemy.ac.uk

          The Organising Committee

          AIchemy HubPSDI
          Dr Ben Alston (University of Liverpool)
          Caroline Woods (University of Liverpool)
          Dr Samantha Pearman-Kanza
          Nicola Knight
          Victoria Hooper