Project description
AI for improved polymer design and synthesis
In recent years, polymers have become essential to a variety of fields and sectors, ranging from electronics and construction to pharmaceuticals and beyond. However, the reliance of most design methods on extensive trial-and-error experiments is both costly and time-consuming. This limits the insights that can be gained. The ERC-funded POLYGEN project aims to address gaps in AI-guided polymer design by developing novel paradigms for generative AI frameworks in design and synthesis, as well as learnable polymer representations. To achieve this, the project will utilise several methods to combine polymer science and artificial intelligence, thereby reimagining polymer design landscapes.
Objective
Polymers are the most ubiquitous materials class in modern society. Most of us spend a significant part of our lives in buildings made of polymers, using electronics manufactured with special polymers, and taking medicines encapsulated in carefully-optimized polymer formulations. In many cases, the design of new polymers is key to addressing global challenges in sustainability, health, and security. However, current polymer design methods rely heavily on trial-and-error experimentation and are grounded on imprecise assumptions about their structure, which is not only time-consuming and costly, but also offers limited insights into the relationship between structure, synthesis, and properties beyond the simplest polymers. While data-driven methods for small molecule engineering have flourished in recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) methods designed for polymers remain severely underdeveloped due to the unique challenges they pose. Their design involves navigating a noisy data space in search of compounds satisfying a complex set of specifications, made even more challenging when we’re interested in sampling novel, unique materials. The lack of well-defined, regular structures in polymers, coupled with a vastly different synthesis space, has also led to inefficient representations for them and an overreliance on hand-crafted simplifications, necessitating the development of information-rich yet scalable representa-tions for diverse polymer classes. I will tackle these gaps in AI-guided polymer design through the de-velopment of new paradigms for (1) learnable polymer representations and (2) generative AI frameworks for polymer design and synthesis. The methods I will develop bridge unique ideas from polymer science and AI to create a ground-breaking new approach for engineering polymers to specification and transform the current polymer design landscape across many industries via scalable data-driven strategies.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
412 96 Goteborg
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.