Signature Event

May 28th 2026 | High Tech Campus, Eindhoven

Big Chemistry

Signature
Event

You are invited!

High‑throughput and AI‑driven autonomous robot labs are reshaping the future of chemical formulation. This event highlights how intelligent automation and self-driving labs dramatically accelerate experimentation, enhance precision and unlock new opportunities for innovation. Partners from the Big Chemistry consortium and leading industry players will showcase real‑world applications that demonstrate faster R&D cycles, smarter formulation discovery and disruptive improvements in efficiency. Join us to explore how autonomous? AI‑powered high‑throughput technologies are transforming the way science and industry develop solutions for tomorrow. By transforming the art of formulation into data driven science.

Register

Reserve your spot and discover how AI‑driven autonomous labs are radically transforming chemistry. Get inspired by real‑world applications, innovations and leading experts from the Big Chemistry consortium.

Program

09:00 – 09:30 hrs

Welcome with coffee/tea

09:30 hrs

Opening and welcome

09:35 – 09:55 hrs

National Growth Fund objectives (to be announced)

09:55 – 10:15 hrs

Interview: Objectives and challenges Big Chemistry (with founding fathers Wilhelm Huck and Bert Meijer)

10:15 – 10:50 hrs

BioPACIFIC MIP: A US hub for high throughput biomaterials innovation (Heather Maynard, UCLA)

10:50 – 11:10 hrs

Coffee/tea break

11:10 – 11:45 hrs

The Future of Autonomous Materials Labs: Putting a Brain in the AI Scientist (Andy Cooper, Leverhulme Research Centre for Functional Materials Design, Liverpool UK)

11:45 – 12:20 hrs

Self-Driving Labs in the Helmholtz Association and Beyond (Pascal Friederich, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Helmholtz Gemeinschaft)

12:20 – 13:30 hrs

Lunch with company booths

13:30 – 14:00 hrs

Parallel break-out sessions

Breakout 1

Self-driving labs for science and industry: challenges and break-throughs

Moderator: Marcel Wubbolts, CTO Vivici

Breakout 2

High-throughput experimentation, quantum-mechanical modeling and AI: a complementary material development workflow for industry in the transition towards a safe and sustainable circular economy

Moderator: Jan Harm Urbanus, lead scientist TNO

Breakout 3

Workshop ICT-infrastructure challenges for self-driving labs

Moderator: Teade Punter, Lector Fontys

Breakout 4

From Lab Idea to Venture: Kickstart your Startup

Moderator: Daniël ten Holder, Project manager Oost NL

14:10 – 14:20 hrs

Laboratory Copilots: Autonomous Learning and Experimental Planning for Physical Chemistry Measurements (Will Robinson, Group leader Radboud University)

14:20 – 14:30 hrs

We will be fully circular: closing carbon and development loops in coatings (Daan van der Zwaag, Head Global R&D Energy Curable Solutions, Covestro)

14:30 – 14:40 hrs

Automated flow platform for partitioning and dissolution studies (Edwin Aret, Director of Solid State Chemistry Symeres)

14:40 – 14:50 hrs

Accelerating formulation R&D via predictive science-based webapps (Sander van Loon, CEO VLCI)

14:50 – 15:00 hrs

A self-driving laboratory that optimizes soft materials (Nadia Erkamp, Assistant Professor TU/e)

15:00 – 15:20 hrs

Coffee/tea break

15:20 – 15:55 hrs

The use of AI to Discover new Materials (Max Welling, UvA and founder Cusp.AI)

15:55 – 16:10 hrs

How an industry-wide Operating System can help solve today’s toughest challenges (Yann Chilvers, CEO Covalo)

16:10 – 16:45 hrs

Competitive differentiation through AI in the Chemical Industry. – The necessity of unlocking the value of data to accelerate innovation (Petra Severit, CTO Altana AG)

16:45 – 17:30 hrs

Closure and drinks

On behalf of the Big Chemistry team:

Stan Gielen, Wilhelm Huck, Marcel Wubbolts, Guuske Busscher, Francesco Staps, Aldo Kranenbarg, Will Robinson, Mathijs Mabesoone, Mark Driver, Carla Bouwman, Max Derks.

See you there!