Sašo Šturm
Jožef Stefan Institute, SI
Biography
Prof. Dr. Sašo Šturm heads the Department for Nanostructured Materials at the Jožef Stefan
Institute. He is also in charge of the "Nanostructured Materials" research program funded by the
Slovenian Research Agency. Prof. Šturm's main research interest is in nanoscience, particularly in the
nanomaterials research from synthesis to advanced characterisation. In academia, he serves as a full
professor at the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, focusing on Nanosciences, and
holds an associate professorship in Geology at the University of Ljubljana. He spent a year as a post-
doc at the MPI, Stuttgart, and had several appointments as a visiting scientist at Graz Centre for
Electron Microscopy, Toyama University, Tokyo University of Science, and Hokkaido University. As a
visiting professor, he lectured at Sabanci University in Turkey. His past roles include the presidency
of the Slovene Microscopy Society, currently a member of the Executive Board of the European
Microscopy Society. He has a significant scholarly record, with 125 peer-reviewed scientific articles, a
book chapter, and over 2,100 citations, reflecting his impact in the field, evidenced by an h-index of
28.
Title
Autonomous laboratory for sustainable research and discovery of new materials
Abstract
We introduce a pioneering project that aims to reshape materials discovery by establishing an
autonomous lab dedicated to sustainable research and the development of new materials. The new
way of performing research will be based on an inverse materials design approach, where the desired end material property drives the entire discovery process. For instance, our focus on high-entropy oxides, a novel material type with promising catalytic properties and a theoretical potential for over a million different catalytic sites, exemplifies our approach. Nevertheless, turning theoretical
possibilities into actual materials efficiently is challenging with traditional experimentation methods.
This is even more intensified in studies with high entropy oxides due to their unusual composition containing five or more principal metal cations and oxygen ions in a single-phase crystal structure, which gives thousands of possibilities for their final composition and structure.
Our research plan is to merge state-of-the-art robotic and automation synthesis and characterisation tools, generating extensive data. This data will be enhanced by machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) supported by ab-initio and quantum-computing-based simulations, and fed into a
continuous process for materials optimisation, along with insights from fundamental modelling. This truly autonomous approach to materials discovery represents a significant shift in materials discovery, with machines actively augmenting human researchers’ abilities.