21.01.2026

Auf Einladung von Prof. Dr.-Ing. Samuel Kounev findet der folgende Vortrag statt:

Mittwoch, 21. Januar 2026, 16:00 Uhr, Raum 0.001 Zentrales Hörsaal- u. Seminargebäude Z6 Am Hubland

Prof. Dr. Ian T. Foster
Argonne National Laboratory and University of Chicago (USA)

Accelerating Discovery with Intelligent Agents

Abstract

The convergence of enormous datasets, advanced machine learning, autonomous laboratories, exascale supercomputing, and cloud infrastructure opens up exciting opportunities for science and engineering. But fully harnessing this potential to tackle the grand challenges facing society—from energy and healthcare to economic resilience—requires new solutions to middleware and infrastructure challenges. In this talk I will explore how embodied AI agents can create adaptive, dynamic systems capable of augmenting human expertise. These agents go beyond automating routine tasks; they enhance research environments by synthesizing complex scientific literature, orchestrating intricate physical and computational experiments, and co-designing solutions in real time. In doing so, they enable new levels of orchestration and coordination that empower researchers to focus on high-level problem-solving and innovation. However, creating, managing, and resourcing such agents—determining computational priorities and ensuring efficient oversight—presents new challenges for both software and hardware infrastructure. Addressing these challenges will be key to unlocking the full potential of AI-assisted science.

URL:

Ian Foster is a leading authority in high-performance computing, data science, as well as cloud, grid, and scientific computing:
https://computerscience.uchicago.edu/people/ian-foster/
https://www.anl.gov/profile/ian-t-foster
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VGoSakQAAAAJ&hl=en