ThinkFactory 2025 : community discussion on harmonizing and accelerating self-driving laboratories

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Pickles, Thomas and Baird, Sterling G. and Salehian, Mohammad and Florence, Alastair J. (2026) ThinkFactory 2025 : community discussion on harmonizing and accelerating self-driving laboratories. Matter, 9 (5). 102757. ISSN 2590-2385 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2026.102757)

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Abstract

ThinkFactory 2025 was a virtual workshop jointly hosted by the Acceleration Consortium and CMAC to facilitate discussion on harmonizing and accelerating self-driving laboratories. The three-hour event brought together more than 50 participants for plenary and breakout discussion across four themed tracks: AI and machine learning, data, orchestration, and robotics. Key priorities highlighted by the community included the need for clearer benchmarks to demonstrate value, improved accessibility for experimentalists without programming expertise, and stronger standards for interoperability, safety, and reproducibility. Participants also emphasised the importance of structured human–AI collaboration and shared infrastructure to promote openness and efficiency. This paper outlines the event structure and design and key discussion insights, providing a reproducible framework for hosting collaborative, cross-institutional virtual workshops.

ORCID iDs

Pickles, Thomas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3377-3124, Baird, Sterling G., Salehian, Mohammad ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4073-292X and Florence, Alastair J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9706-8364;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)