2607629

NSF PCL-TEST BED: ELECTRA: A NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AUTONOMOUS MOLECULAR DISCOVERY ACROSS CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY, AND MATERIALS SCIENCE -NSF PCL-TEST BED: ELECTRA: A NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AUTONOMOUS MOLECULAR DISCOVERY ACROSS CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY, AND MATERIALS SCIENCE ELECTRA WILL STRENGTHEN U.S. ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS, SUPPORT NATIONAL SECURITY, AND IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE BY BUILDING AN AI-FORWARD AUTONOMOUS MOLECULAR DISCOVERY NODE FOR CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY AND MATERIALS. THE PROJECT LEVERAGES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ROBOTICS, AND STATE-OF-THE-ART INSTRUMENTATION TO MAKE MOLECULAR STRUCTURE VISUALIZATION AUTONOMOUS AND CLOUD-ACCESSIBLE TO SCIENTISTS NATIONWIDE, OVERCOMING OUR INABILITY TO SEE MOLECULES WITH THE NAKED EYE. IN DOING SO, ELECTRA ENABLES UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE COMPOSITION AND SHAPE OF MOLECULES DICTATE FUNCTION, REVEAL THEIR ORIGIN, AND ENABLE RATIONAL DESIGN. THIS KNOWLEDGE WILL HELP UNCOVER MECHANISMS OF DISEASE, ACCELERATE THE DISCOVERY OF NEW MEDICINES, SUPPORT THE IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES, AND GUIDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED MATERIALS, SEMICONDUCTORS AND RECYCLABLE PLASTICS TO GROW OUR NATIONAL ECONOMY. DRIVEN BY THESE GOALS AND FACILITATED BY UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS AND NATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS THE PROJECT PLANS TO TRAIN A NEW GENERATION OF AMBITIOUS, AI-VERSED SCIENTISTS WHO WILL CONTINUE BUILDING THE DATA ECOSYSTEM NEEDED TO SUSTAIN U.S. LEADERSHIP IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. ELECTRA WILL BE AN NSF PROGRAMMABLE CLOUD LABORATORY NODE FOR AUTONOMOUS MOLECULAR STRUCTURE DETERMINATION USING MICROCRYSTAL ELECTRON DIFFRACTION SERVING RESEARCHERS ACROSS CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY, GEOLOGY, AND MATERIALS SCIENCE. THE CENTRAL INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTION IS A UNIFIED, SELF-IMPROVING COMPUTATIONAL AND ROBOTIC INFRASTRUCTURE THAT CLOSES THE LOOP BETWEEN DATA ACQUISITION, STRUCTURAL INFERENCE, AND SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY, TRANSFORMING ELECTRON DIFFRACTION FROM A SPECIALIZED TECHNIQUE INTO A BROADLY ACCESSIBLE, HIGH-THROUGHPUT PLATFORM. A CORE SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVE IS SOLVING THE CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC PHASE PROBLEM WHERE INCOMPLETE AND NOISY DATA CAN COMPLICATE CONVENTIONAL PHASING METHODS. TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE, ELECTRA WILL DEVELOP AN INTERCONNECTED SINGLE-LAYER ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM THAT COORDINATES INSTRUMENTATION, GUIDES DATA COLLECTION, INFERS MOLECULAR STRUCTURES FROM INCOMPLETE MEASUREMENTS, AND CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVES THROUGH A SHARED NATIONAL DATA REPOSITORY. THESE SYSTEMS WILL COMBINE PHYSICS-BASED MACHINE LEARNING, PROBABILISTIC REASONING, AND MULTIMODAL DATA INTEGRATION TO RECONSTRUCT STRUCTURES AT ATOMIC-RESOLUTION USING ELECTRON DIFFRACTION DATA COMPLEMENTED BY ANALYTICAL MEASUREMENTS, INCLUDING MASS SPECTROMETRY AND NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY. ROBUST, AUTONOMOUS LABORATORY-CONTROL SOFTWARE WILL COORDINATE THE ROBOTICS AND INSTRUMENTATION APPLIED TO MATERIALS AND SAMPLE PREPARATION AND WILL OPERATE TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPES TO CREATE A SEAMLESS SAMPLE-TO-STRUCTURE WORKFLOW. A COMMUNITY-ACCESSIBLE, AI-POWERED DATABASE WILL ARCHIVE RAW DIFFRACTION DATA, ANALYTICAL MEASUREMENTS, AND REFINED STRUCTURES, ENABLING CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODELS THROUGH LARGE-SCALE LEARNING. THE RESULTING PLATFORM WILL BE DEPLOYED BY AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM SPANNING CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, MINERALOGY, POLYMER SCIENCE, AND MICROBIOLOGY TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES INCLUDING MICROBIOME-DERIVED METABOLITES LINKED TO HUMAN DISEASE, CHARACTERIZATION OF EARTH AND PLANETARY MATERIALS, NEXT-GENERATION DEGRADABLE AND RECYCLABLE PLASTICS, AND COMPLEX BIOMOLECULES THAT HAVE HISTORICALLY RESISTED STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION. ALL DATA, MODELS, AND WORKFLOWS WILL BE DISSEMINATED TO MAXIMIZE SCIENTIFIC IMPACT AND COMMUNITY BENEFIT. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

California Institute Of Technology

THE GOAL OF THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, "TEST BED: TOWARD A NETWORK OF PROGRAMMABLE CLOUD LABORATORIES", IS IDENTIFIED IN THE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.NSF.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/PUB_SUMM.JSP?ODS_KEY=NSF25541

47.084 - NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Pasadena, California 91125-0001 United States

Single Zip Code

Test Bed: Toward a Network of Programmable Cloud Laboratories (25-541)