Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing how scientists discover and design new materials, moving from trial-and-error experimentation to AI-powered prediction and synthesis. Two major developments underscore this shift: Stanford chemist Song Lin has been named a finalist for the 2026 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, and South Korea's state-run Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology is partnering with SK Innovation to use AI to discover next-generation cooling refrigerants for data centers.

What Are AI-Driven Materials Discovery Platforms Doing?

AI-driven computational platforms are accelerating the discovery of advanced materials by predicting the properties of candidate substances before they are synthesized in the lab. This approach dramatically reduces the time and cost of materials research. Anubhav Jain at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, another 2026 Blavatnik finalist, has created AI-driven computational platforms and software tools for autonomous laboratories that accelerate discovery of advanced materials for batteries, energy conversion, catalysis, and next-generation technologies.

The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology and SK Innovation collaboration exemplifies this practical application. The two organizations plan to combine AI and chemical materials expertise to identify new two-phase refrigerants, which are critical for cooling high-performance AI data centers. The approach involves using machine learning to predict the thermal and physical properties of candidate substances, selecting the most promising ones, then synthesizing and refining them and verifying key properties such as thermal conductivity and latent heat.

Why Does AI Materials Discovery Matter Right Now?

The urgency is driven by real-world challenges. As AI adoption drives a surge in data centers running large numbers of high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs), the ability to remove server heat quickly and efficiently has become a key competitive factor. Conventional air-cooling systems are increasingly unable to handle the thermal load generated by high-density servers. Two-phase cooling, in which a liquid refrigerant absorbs heat from servers, vaporizes, and then condenses back into liquid, can transfer large amounts of heat efficiently, but securing refrigerants that absorb heat rapidly while remaining stable over extended use is a major bottleneck.

"By combining the institute's research capabilities in refrigerants and thermal-management materials with SK Innovation's experience in energy research and development, we aim to secure core source technologies in advanced materials that will transform power efficiency in AI data centers," said Shin Seok-min, president of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology.

Shin Seok-min, President of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology

Beyond cooling, AI materials discovery is opening doors across multiple scientific disciplines. The 2026 Blavatnik Awards recognize 18 early-career scientist finalists working on transformative materials and chemistry research. These researchers are advancing fields ranging from quantum materials to bioelectronic devices.

How Are Researchers Using AI to Accelerate Materials Science?

• Computational Prediction: Machine learning models predict the thermal, physical, and chemical properties of candidate materials before synthesis, reducing the number of expensive lab experiments needed.
• Autonomous Laboratory Systems: AI-driven platforms can automatically design experiments, synthesize materials, and analyze results, compressing months of research into weeks.
• Property Verification and Optimization: Once promising candidates are identified, researchers synthesize and refine them in the lab, then validate key properties like thermal conductivity, latency heat, and long-term stability.
• Large-Scale Demonstration: Successful materials move from lab validation to real-world testing, such as the planned 500-kilowatt-class AI data center cooling demonstration in the Korea-SK Innovation collaboration.

The Korea-SK Innovation partnership will span the full development pipeline. Under a research plan currently under review, the collaboration will begin with AI-driven refrigerant discovery, move through synthesis and refining process optimization and performance verification at the server and rack level, and culminate in validating cooling performance in a 500-kilowatt-class AI data center environment. The partners also plan to confirm power usage effectiveness, the key power-efficiency metric for data centers, as well as long-term operational reliability.

The investment in early-career researchers is paying dividends. Since 2007, the Blavatnik Awards have invested more than $20 million in over 500 scientists worldwide. This investment has led to the founding of more than 50 companies, five of which are publicly traded and collectively valued at over $40 billion.

What Other Materials Breakthroughs Are Emerging?

The 2026 Blavatnik finalists represent a broad spectrum of materials and chemistry innovation. Brenda Rubenstein at Brown University has developed computational methods that make chemistry faster, cheaper, and smaller by predicting quantum materials, modeling protein structures, and storing data in molecules with greater speed and accuracy. Jonathan Rivnay at Northwestern University is pioneering bioelectronic materials and implantable "living pharmacies" that combine engineered cells with electronics, advancing personalized therapies for cancer, diabetes, and sleep disorders. Deep Jariwala at the University of Pennsylvania has invented next-generation electronic materials and devices that are advancing computer memory, optical sensors, and quantum technologies, with prototype chips now being built for the aerospace industry.

"Scientific progress depends on bold ideas, rigorous inquiry, and the courage to explore the unknown. The 2026 Blavatnik National Awards Finalists embody these qualities through research that is redefining fields as diverse as chemistry, biology, engineering, artificial intelligence, and astrophysics," noted Nicholas B. Dirks, President and CEO of The New York Academy of Sciences.

Nicholas B. Dirks, President and CEO of The New York Academy of Sciences

The 2026 Blavatnik National Awards Laureates will be announced on October 6, 2026, during the Blavatnik Awards ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Each Laureate will receive a prize of $250,000, the largest unrestricted scientific award available to early-career scientists in the United States. The remaining 15 finalists will each receive $15,000 in recognition of their outstanding achievements.

This year's finalists were selected by an independent jury of distinguished scientists. In total, 372 young scientists were nominated, representing 187 academic and research institutions across 43 states and the District of Columbia, underscoring the breadth of materials science innovation happening across the United States.