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Why “It Worked in the Lab” Is the Biggest Lie in R&D
11th June 2026
Conference Mission
Conference Mission
Scaling up represents a crucial, yet often neglected, aspect of scientific innovation. Many researchers discover the limitations of “It worked in the lab” only years after leaving academia. Embedding scale-up considerations into early-stage research can greatly enhance the societal (sustainability, world health, etc.) and industrial impact of academic discoveries.
Scaling up represents a crucial, yet often neglected, aspect of scientific innovation. Many researchers discover the limitations of “It worked in the lab” only years after leaving academia. Embedding scale-up considerations into early-stage research can greatly enhance the societal (sustainability, world health, etc.) and industrial impact of academic discoveries.
This conference will explore the scientific and technical challenges of translating laboratory-scale discoveries in chemistry, biology, materials science, pharmaceuticals, and energy systems into viable industrial-scale processes.
This conference will explore the scientific and technical challenges of translating laboratory-scale discoveries in chemistry, biology, materials science, pharmaceuticals, and energy systems into viable industrial-scale processes.
Sponsors
Sponsors
Invited Speakers
Invited Speakers
Antonio del Rio Chanona
Antonio del Rio Chanona
Director of the Machine Learning for Process Systems Engineering Lab at the Sargent Centre Imperial College London
Suzanne Robb
Suzanne Robb
Senior Market Strategy Manager, CPI
Emma Brass
Emma Brass
PhD University of Liverpool, mobile robotics for scale-up synthesis, in collaboration with GSK
Sandy Douglas
Sandy Douglas
Associate Professor at the Jenner Insitute, University of Oxford
Laura Helleckes
Laura Helleckes
Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow, Imperial College London
Matthew Bone
Matthew Bone
Principal Computational Chemist,
SOLVE Chemistry
Program
Program
(click to expand)
Interviews from February Workshop
Interviews from February Workshop
CEO Geoffrey von Maltzahn and CTO Andy Beam in a Lila Sciences lab. Boston Globe/Boston Globe via Getty Images
Recommended Reading
"Discovering new materials with AI has a winding road to VC returns"
"Discovering new materials with AI has a winding road to VC returns"
By Rosie Bradbury
AI companies are selling investors on shiny new materials. But commercializing them is another matter.
"The Four Molecules To Scale For Industrial Biotech"
"The Four Molecules To Scale For Industrial Biotech"
By Mohamed Soufi, SynBioBeta
Previous Speakers
Previous Speakers
Morten Bormann Nielsen
Morten Bormann Nielsen
Chemistry, PhD with a passion for DOE after transitioning from academia to industry seven years ago.
Avi Goldfarb
Avi Goldfarb
Rotman Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare, and Professor of Marketing at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
Jordan Penn
Jordan Penn
PhD AI and Machine Learning, Experimentation algorithms at Novo Nordisk and Merck KGaA
Sonja Billerbeck
Sonja Billerbeck
Co-director of Sustainable Centre for AI-Leveraged Efficiency in Industrial Biotechnology (SCALE-IB) at Imperical College London
Jaspar Schuurmans
Jaspar Schuurmans
PhD UvA with Prof. Timothy Noël on luminescent solar concentrator photoreactors
Samuel East
Samuel East
Media Development, Cell Ag, DOE, Miniaturisarion, Automation & High-throughput Experimentation
Organising Committee
Organising Committee
Alfred Wingfield
Alfred Wingfield
DPhil Engineering Biology, University of Oxford
Jakob Zeitler
Jakob Zeitler
Pioneer Fellow,
University of Oxford
Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook
Banting Fellow at the Jenner Institute,
University of Oxford
Previous Talks
Previous Talks
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