Our main research focus is on the automation of science. In particular, we are interested in the development of ‘Robot Scientists’: physically implemented computer/robotic systems that utilise techniques from artificial intelligence (AI) to execute cycles of scientific experimentation.

A Robot Scientist can in a fully automatic manner: originate hypotheses to explain observations, devise experiments to test these hypotheses, physically run the experiments using laboratory robotics, interpret the results, and then repeat the cycle. Our Robot Scientist ‘Adam’ was the first machine to autonomously discover scientific knowledge. The Robot Scientist ‘Eve’ found lead compounds against neglected tropical diseases.

Eve is a work cell with equipment for liquid handling, drug maintenance, yeast growth profiling brought together by robotic arms.

• Vacuum sealed mechanics of robotic arms which can operate in six-axis orientation were designed for continuous use under heavy loads for months at a time.

• A dry store provides stable environmental conditions for drug library maintenance and automated access to individual microplates.

• A liquid handling device (Labcyte Echo) enables nanoliter transfer of drugs using acoustics,.

• Multidrop Combi dispenses media using an eight tube cassette with continuous feeding, saving operation time.

• Bravo multipipette robot with nine deck platform automates diverse operations.

• The incubator provides automated incubation of microplate growth assays at stable temperature and humidity.

• All the equipment is controlled by laboratory automation software which allows to custom design workflows for various assays.

Eve can be used along with active machine learning algorithms to untangle quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR). Eve enables ultra-precise, reproducible and high-throughput experimentation to facilitate early drug discovery and assists researchers with repetitive tasks.