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Researchers will gather Aug. 21 to shape how AI can help scientists analyze and share spectroscopy data The University of Georgia will host the Spectroscopy Data and AI Workshop on Friday, Aug. 21, at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel — believed to be the first U.S. workshop dedicated specifically to integrating spectroscopy, artificial intelligence and scientific data infrastructure. The event is supported by a National Science Foundation Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems project. Spectroscopy is a powerful tool used by scientists to identify and understand materials by studying how they interact with light. By analyzing those interactions, researchers can learn about the composition and properties of substances ranging from blood and plastics to air pollutants and distant stars. The workshop brings together researchers from universities, national laboratories and industry to explore how AI can help scientists analyze and share spectroscopy data more effectively, work that could speed discoveries from environmental monitoring to materials science. Sessions will cover FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data practices, trustworthy AI, and shared standards and tools for AI-enabled research. "Artificial intelligence is transforming the way scientists collect, manage and interpret research data," said Yiping Zhao, Distinguished Research Professor of Physics at UGA and workshop organizer. "By bringing together experts in spectroscopy, data science and artificial intelligence, we hope to build a national community that can accelerate scientific discovery and position researchers to tackle increasingly complex challenges." Organizers see the event as a first step toward a national network of researchers at the intersection of spectroscopy, AI and data management, creating new collaboration opportunities among universities, federal labs, and industry, and helping shape the field's research agenda going forward. The event will feature a keynote lecture by Naomi J. Halas, University Professor and Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University, as part of the Provost's Seminar Series, which features highly esteemed scholars and researchers. Halas, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters, will present "Machine Learning-Enhanced Surface-Enhanced Spectroscopies for the Detection of Toxic Environmental Contaminants" at 9:15 a.m. in Masters Hall. Her research demonstrates how physics-informed AI algorithms can identify unknown chemical compounds, advancing the development of compact environmental monitoring technologies. Additional invited speakers come from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the G eorgia Institute of Technology. The program includes invited talks, a poster session and networking event, and a closing discussion aimed at building a community roadmap for AI-enabled spectroscopy research and data infrastructure. Registration is free. For program details, registration, and lodging, visit the workshop website.

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UGA to host first-of-its-kind spectroscopy-AI workshop

Researchers will gather Aug. 21 to shape how AI can help scientists analyze and share spectroscopy data

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