A German chemist visits University of Tartu and gives lecture about the possibilities of applying artificial intelligence in chemistry related research fields

On Monday, August 26, Professor Johann Gasteiger will give a lecture at the Chemicum of the University of Tartu. A professor at Friedrich Alexander University in Germany talks about "Artificial Intelligence in Chemistry - From Drug Design to the Prediction of Material Properties".

According to Uko Maran, senior researcher of molecular technology at the University of Tartu, researchers have always relied on experiments and data when studying chemical compounds and their properties. "To facilitate this acquisition of knowledge different computational methods, such as artificial neural networks, have been introduced," he explained.

"In his presentation, Johann Gasteiger gives an overview of the applications of artificial intelligence and cheminformatics in analytical chemistry, drug design, biochemistry, cosmetics products and materials science," Maran added. Professor Johann Gasteiger is one of the pioneers in cheminformatics and an application of artificial neural networks in chemistry and related research fields.

Gasteiger defended his PhD degree in organic chemistry at the University of Munich and completed his postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. He started his academic career as an assistant professor at the Technical University of Munich. He received his habilitation under the guidance of Ivar Ugi, an Estonian-born German chemist, and has been a long-time professor at the Computational Chemistry Centre which he co-founded at Univeristy of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

In addition to his academic career, the professor has been active in in commercialisation research results - he founded the chemical software company Molecular Networks GmbH. He has been awarded several research awards and has participated in various advisory boards and organizations in academia and in industry. Professor Johann Gasteiger has also written and edited books, some of which can be considered the seminal books of cheminformatics.

The lecture will be held on August 26, at 14:00, in the Chemicum of the University of Tartu, at Ravila 14a Str., in auditorium 1021. The lecture is funded by the European Regional Development Fund within University of Tartu ASTRA project PER ASPERA.

Further information: Uko Maran, senior researcher of molecular technology at University of Tartu, +372 737 5254, +372 503 7163, uko.maran@ut.ee