Spotlight: Dr Yiran Jiao

Dr Yiran Jiao is a COE-CSI postdoctoral researcher at Adelaide University, working with Centre Chief Investigator Prof Yan Jiao on computational approaches to materials discovery and electrochemistry. We recently had the chance to talk to him about his work:

• What is your research about?

My research focuses on using computational modelling and artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery and design of advanced materials for energy and catalytic applications.

• What is your Methodology?

My work mainly involves computational modelling techniques, particularly density functional theory (DFT) calculations, together with rapidly developing artificial intelligence approaches such as machine learning and, more recently, large language models.

• Why are you interested in this field?

I was initially fascinated by the idea that we can understand and even design materials starting from individual atoms. When employing computational approaches, it allow us to gain insights into materials at the atomic level and provide valuable guidance for experiments, potentially reducing the need for extensive trial-and-error work.

• What do you hope to achieve with your research?

The past five or six years have witnessed tremendous advances in artificial intelligence, creating enormous opportunities for researchers to develop new ways of approaching scientific problems. Through my research, I hope to explore how these emerging AI techniques can be integrated with traditional computational modelling to develop faster, smarter, and more efficient approaches to materials discovery.

• How does being part of CSI support your research?

I think one of the most important strengths of CSI is that it brings together researchers from many different research areas. Exposure to new ideas, knowledge, and perspectives from other disciplines provides an excellent interdisciplinary environment for my research and often inspires new ways of thinking about scientific problems.

• What gets you out of bed in the morning?