Flaviu Cipcigan

Flaviu is a Staff Research Scientist at IBM Research Europe, a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Postgraduate Institute of Measurement Science at the National Physical Laboratory and a PhD supervisor at the University of Edinburgh and University of Oxford.

Broadly, Flaviu is interested in how emerging technologies can accelerate the pace of scientific discovery. Now, he is focusing on AI for sustainable material discovery and writes software in Python using the AI and data science stack. Flaviu received a PhD in physics from the University of Edinburgh, working in collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory and IBM Research.

Throughout his career, Flaviu has:

• Demonstrated machine-guided discovery of new carbon capture solvents.
• Applied simulation and generative AI to discover new antimicrobial peptides that kill drug-resistant bacteria in mouse models.
• Designed the first antimicrobial peptides that make fractal pores in membranes using simulation and AI. The paper made the cover for ACS Nano.
• Demonstrated how AI can improve lead optimisation as a collaboration between STFC, IBM Research and AstraZeneca.
• Developed an electronically coarse-grained model for water and used it to discover how the network of water molecules gives rise to water's anomalies.
• Created mathematical models for piezoelectric ceramics, used to inform the design of potential piezoelectric transistors.

He also contributed to his communities by:

• Co-founding a 20+ member Global Shapers Hub in Manchester and delivering 3 community projects during his tenure as hub curator.
• Served on the Steering Committee for the SIAM Convening on Climate Change to advise on funding priorities for climate and sustainability.
• Co-organised the Hermes 2014 summer school in materials modelling and science communication.

Flaviu's contributions were recognised by multiple awards:

• As an undergraduate, he was shortlisted for the SET Student of the Year Award and won the class medal for his studies.
• As a PhD, he was shortlisted for the Sam Edwards prize of the Institute of Physics.
• At IBM, he received 2 IBM Research Achievements and IBM’s 2021 Pat Goldberg award for best paper. Flaviu also appears on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

In his free time, Flaviu dances and DJs Argentine tango on the North West England tango scene. He has integrated his interest in art with his research in science by realising his PhD research research into physical form, a process documented in short film and a screening at the Edinburgh International Science Festival. He also wrote about physical representations of knowledge in a book chapter that explores the lived experience of physics.