ANU PhD student Adam Mater has won a prized 2018 Westpac Future Leaders Scholarship for his work on computer-aided chemical design.

Mr Mater is one of 17 exceptional young Australians to win the scholarship, to fund post-graduate study at Australia's leading universities.

Mr Mater, from the Research School of Chemistry in the ANU College of Science, is studying chemical artificial intelligence and aims to build artificial intelligence technologies that capture and apply human intuition to solve chemical problems.

"This scholarship means a wealth of potential to forge overseas ties while also allowing me to entirely focus on my research," he said.

"My research passion is trying to develop software that captures and replicates human intuition and the skill we have in solving chemical problems.

"I hope that my research can be used to help solve a variety of chemical problems ranging from drug development to materials design."

The scholarship provides up to $120,000 for research or coursework studies at a graduate level, including a nine month leadership development program and international experiences.

http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/anu-student-awarded-prized-westpac-f...