Our research

The unique nature of the Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) provides a new template for how researchers can work together to meet society’s grand challenges, and drive the UK’s competitive advantage.

Through the use of Computer Aided Materials Science (CAMS) and high-throughput (HT) automation we aim to develop new approaches to materials science, re-thinking potential applications and bringing it into the 21st century. The potential that new, and at scale, aggregations of automation, control and cognitive computing can offer is limitless.

Our Department of Chemistry was ranked in the top 10 in the 2021 Research Excellent Framework.

Research activity

Research activity at the MIF includes:

Leverhulme Research Centre for Functional Materials Design

The MIF houses the Leverhulme Research Centre for Functional Materials Design, created to drive a design revolution for functional materials at the atomic scale.

The prestigious award from the Leverhulme Trust helps to bridge the current design gap by fusing leading-edge synthesis concepts from the physical sciences with ideas from the forefront of computer science, alongside experts in robotics, engineering, management and social science.

Professor Steve Rannard talks about his nanomedicine research

Researchers at Liverpool are using nano-technology to make HIV medicine more effective and less expensive.

De Novo Materials Design De Novo Materials Design

Case study: De novo materials design

From cutting carbon emissions and air pollution to drug delivery, some of our world’s most pressing problems are dependent on the development of new materials.

The shape of spaces: the many uses of topological data analysis The Shape of Spaces

Case study: The shape of spaces

A new method of analysis, topological data analysis, promises to uncover the underlying patterns in everything from climate research data to crystalline materials.