PSDI & Royce Materials Data Summit

Session

Keynote talk

30 Jul 2026, 10:15

2B.020 (Nancy Rothwell Building, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK)

28. Machine learning for materials science: A bittersweet lesson

Keith Butler

30/07/2026, 10:15

Talk (invited)

According to Rich Sutton in his influential essay The Bitter Lesson, "researchers seek to leverage their human knowledge of the domain, but the only thing that matters in the long run is the leveraging of computation." This stark claim runs counter to the instincts of most practicing scientists, for whom domain knowledge and inductive biases have a privileged status. In this talk I will...

22. People are infrastructure: the strategic case for open simulation science.

Nicola Marzari (EPFL/PSI and U. of Cambridge)

31/07/2026, 10:10

Talk (invited)

Scientists and policymakers have learned how to make long-term strategic investments in singular physical infrastructures. Particle accelerators, fusion reactors and space telescopes are conceived, built and operated through coordinated programmes spanning decades. Such investments are essential to scientific health, whether they are curiosity-driven or their societal returns lie far in the...