Building an AI Scientist
Build the Future of Drug Discovery with AI
What happens when world-class engineers, scientists, founders and AI builders come together for one weekend to tackle some of the hardest challenges in drug discovery?
Join us for the ‘Building an AI Scientist’ Hackathon, a three-day event bringing together the brightest minds across AI, biotech and software to build the next generation of tools that could transform how medicines are discovered.
Drug discovery is overdue for reinvention. Over one weekend, you'll help rebuild its infrastructure from the ground up - creating the tools that make truly AI-native drug discovery companies possible - changing how the next generation of medicines are invented. Alongside leading experts, mentors and frontier AI companies, you'll tackle the hardest problems in the field - from target identification and toxicity prediction to experimental design. You'll be building solutions with real-world impact.
Whether you're an ML engineer, software developer, computational biologist, scientist, founder or ambitious student, this is your chance to help shape the future of healthcare.
Schedule
Friday 3rd July
Evening kick-off event
Opening keynote from Ternary
Expert panel: The Future of AI in Drug Discovery
Networking with founders, investors, researchers and operators
Saturday 4th July
Squad formation and hackathon begins!
Mentorship sessions
Workshops and technical support
Full day of building
Sunday 5th July
Team demos and presentations
Judging panel
Awards and closing ceremony
Why attend?
Work on real problems: Tackle genuine challenges across drug discovery, from toxicity prediction and target discovery to scientific data analysis, experimental design and molecular modelling.
Build alongside exceptional people: Collaborate with engineers, scientists, founders, investors and researchers from across the AI and biotech ecosystem.
Access frontier AI tools: Receive technical support and compute resources from leading AI partners to help bring your ideas to life.
Learn from industry experts: Gain access to mentors from Ternary and a network of leading AI, biotech and venture capital organisations.
Launch something meaningful: Build an open-source tool, research project, product prototype or even the foundations of your next startup.
Cash and credit prizes
Compete for cash and credit prizes, awarded to the teams creating the most impactful and innovative solutions.
In addition to cash prizes, winning projects may receive further support, visibility and opportunities from partners across the AI and biotech ecosystem.
Apply as an individual or a team
Applications are open to:
Software Engineers
AI/ML Engineers
Computational Biologists
Scientists and Researchers
Founders and Builders
Undergrads, PhDs, and Postdocs
You can apply as an individual or as an existing team.
Individuals will have the opportunity to meet collaborators and form teams at the event. Recommended team size is 3–5 people.
Co-hosts
Pluto House
Anthropic
Sponsors
Supported by an incredible group of partners helping accelerate innovation in AI and biotech, including:
Anthropic, Daphni, redalpine, AWS, Boltz, Wuxi AppTec, 50Y, and ARIA, with additional ecosystem partners to be announced.
About 50Y
50Y backs founders building technologies capable of transforming humanity's future. We're grateful to 50Y for hosting the hackathon at their Soho Square venue and supporting the next generation of AI and biotech innovation.
About ARIA
ARIA (Advanced Research + Invention Agency) funds breakthrough scientific and technological research with the potential to unlock transformative advances for society. Their support reflects the importance of ambitious, frontier innovation across AI and life sciences.
Ready to build?
If you're excited about the future of AI, biology and scientific discovery, we'd love to have you join us.
Applications are open until the 26th of June.
Whether you're applying as an individual or a team, complete the application form below for the opportunity to join us and help build the future of AI-powered drug discovery.