Towards data-driven materials science of a new age

Materials informatics (MI) corresponds to attempts of applying approaches of data science to materials science, with expectation that MI irreversibly changes the way of research and development in materials science. The concept of MI is already well-established, while its success in creating innovative materials and knowledge largely relies on the most intimate as well as the most interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers of relevant fields. Our research center embodies such collaboration among five research groups of JAIST through implementation of MI for practical materials development and towards materials science of new age. In doing so, we pursue research items such as 1) high-throughput experimentation for materials big data, 2) data-driven materials extrapolation, 3) explainable and interpretable AI for extracting knowledge from materials data, and 4) experimental validation of proposed materials and descriptors, along with active international collaboration with various partners. The center also cultivates young researchers who can embody MI on their own.