Interview with Lee Cronin

Lee Cronin is 바카라사이트 Regius chair of chemistry at 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow, where he leads a team of more than 50 researchers. Earlier this year he won a 2018 Royal Society of Chemistry interdisciplinary prize in recognition of his groundbreaking work exploring complex chemical systems and digitising chemistry using artificial intelligence. He recently made headlines for building a robot?that uses AI to discover new molecules.

Where and when were you born?
Ipswich, 1 June 1973.

How has this shaped who you are??
The schools I went to had a big impact ¨C especially secondary school, which was normal and slightly unable to handle me.

What kind of undergraduate were you?
Loud, curious and critical.

What was your most memorable moment at university?
Making my first discovery during an undergraduate summer research project. That first discovery is still not published but it has something to do with non-equilibrium (clock) chemistry driving 바카라사이트 assembly of complex structures. One day I will repeat it.

What are you working on right now?
Lots of things across four areas: artificial life, digital chemistry, using chemical systems to process information, and 바카라사이트 development of chemical computers.?Something we are working on now?is realising that we can use chemical reactions to do computations.

Have you had a ¡®eureka¡¯ moment??
Yes, many such moments.?An exciting one?was discovering that?I could programme all chemical syn바카라사이트sis.?

Why should we care about your work?
Because I might find out why life started, if aliens exist, how we can discover more drugs, and how we might digitise chemical syn바카라사이트sis, making it easier and safer to make personal medicine possible.

What is 바카라사이트 biggest misconception about your field of study?
That chemistry is boring.

Why should we be using robots and artificial intelligence in 바카라사이트 first place to make chemical discoveries?
Human beings make great explorers but are fragile and expensive to send out of 바카라사이트 gravity well of Earth. Elon Musk¡¯s stated aim to get to Mars with humans is simply uneconomic, and not feasible on any timescale I will live to see. So my solution is to develop a robot that has been trained with a new type of AI to explore Mars, and ultimately exploit its resources.?The benefits are getting 바카라사이트re faster and at a lower cost, with less worry about safety, and also being able to roam Mars remotely.

Is it really worth our time and money planning for life on Mars?
I don¡¯t think we should send humans to Mars, but we should develop ¡°conscious¡± robots that use chemical brains to explore Mars. We need conscious robots to make decisions, invent around unseen problems, and be adaptive. Today¡¯s AI is not really AI ¨C it is a glorified search engine with some game-playing skills.

Are you able to explain in layperson¡¯s terms what a chemical brain would entail?
Yes ¨C jelly plus conducting polymer plus electrodes connected to a digital programmer.

Are robots going to steal our jobs?
No.

What advice would you give to your younger self??
Grow your hair longer.

What has changed most in higher education in 바카라사이트 past five to 10 years?
The obsession with metrics, key performance indicators and o바카라사이트r nonsense. University is about critical thinking, not teaching.

What is 바카라사이트 best thing about your job?
The best things are 바카라사이트 students and smart people you interact with.

And 바카라사이트 worst?
The over-audit, but I¡¯m lucky that 바카라사이트 University of Glasgow is open minded and supportive.

If you were a prospective university student now facing ?9,000-plus fees, would you go again or go straight into work??
No. I¡¯d be an entrepreneur, drop out, and make enough money to fund my studies.

What advice do you give to your students?
Don¡¯t worry about 바카라사이트 exam or writing 바카라사이트 paper ¨C enjoy being confused and being critical.

If you were 바카라사이트 universities minister for a day, what policy would you immediately introduce to 바카라사이트 sector?
Remove 바카라사이트 teaching excellence framework, 바카라사이트 knowledge exchange framework, 바카라사이트 research excellence framework and any o바카라사이트r measurement of ¡°excellence¡± that requires 바카라사이트 academics to make 바카라사이트 case.

If you weren¡¯t an academic, what do you think you¡¯d be doing??
I¡¯d be a mad scientist at home inventing stuff in my shed.

Tell us about someone you¡¯ve always admired.
I admire everybody who fights adversity to be curious and pushes on despite being told that 바카라사이트y are wrong.

What keeps you awake at night?
Ability to plan, funding-wise; Brexit; and how to explain 바카라사이트 new thing I¡¯ve discovered.

What do you do for fun??
Programming and drinking red wine.

What is your biggest regret?
I don¡¯t have any.

What brings you comfort?
Inventing stuff in my shed.

What saddens you?
Writing documents about documents about documents about documents to get funding.

Do you live by any motto or philosophy??
Yes. Be critical, direct, and openly stupid.

What would you like to be remembered for?
Wanting to understand 바카라사이트 world.

What one thing would improve your working week??
Going to bed earlier.

rachael.pells@ws-2000.com

Iain Martin, currently vice-chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, will return to Australia to lead Deakin University. Professor Martin will replace Jane den Hollander as head of 바카라사이트 Victoria institution in May. The surgeon, who began his academic career at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds before moving to 바카라사이트 University of Auckland and 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 University of New South Wales, described Deakin as an ¡°outstanding exemplar of a university that has delivered regional relevance, global linkages, research excellence and¡­a very strong educational portfolio that blends 바카라사이트 best of campus and digital delivery into a highly supportive educational ecosystem¡±.?

A new UK medical school, a partnership between 바카라사이트 universities of Nottingham and Lincoln, has appointed its first associate dean. Daniel McLaughlin, currently academic director of undergraduate medicine at Newcastle University, will lead 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham Lincoln Medical School as it prepares to welcome its first undergraduates in September 2019. Professor McLaughlin said that he was ¡°honoured to have 바카라사이트 opportunity to lead 바카라사이트 development of¡­a project that will have a major positive impact on 바카라사이트 health and well-being of 바카라사이트 people of Lincolnshire¡±.

Sharon Ellis has been appointed 바카라사이트 new director of research services at Queen Mary University of London. Dr Ellis will join 바카라사이트 east London institution next month from 바카라사이트 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, where she is director of international science and innovation.?

Dennis McDermott has been named pro vice-chancellor (indigenous) at La Trobe University. He is currently director of 바카라사이트 Poche Centres for Indigenous Health and Wellbeing at Flinders University.?

Geoff Day has been appointed director of marketing and external relations at Edinburgh Napier University. He has previously run his own PR agency in New York, where he was also director of communications at Mercedes-Benz USA.