12.06.2025

New professorship for "Machine Learning in Science"

Mario Krenn becomes a full professor at our cluster. He develops AI systems to discover new ideas and concepts in physics.

In June, Mario Krenn was appointed to the professorship “Machine Learning in Science II” at the University of Tübingen, being part of our Cluster of Excellence.  

Krenn wants to understand how machine learning can greatly accelerate science by comprehensively automating scientific work processes. He focuses primarily on applications in physics, especially quantum physics – particularly using intelligent algorithms to design novel experiments that allow better observation of the universe, from its smallest to its largest structures.

Yet for him, the automation of science is not a purely technical issue. Instead, it is essential for him to understand how excellent human scientists work and what precisely lies behind concepts such as creativity, understanding, and curiosity.

Krenn says about his long-term goal: “I want to build artificial scientists.” In other words, he wants to imitate every aspect of human scientific work with computers. His aim is not to replace humans in science. Rather, Krenn is convinced that by using artificial intelligence creatively, researchers can be inspired to ask new questions and that clever computer programs can find unusual solutions that humans alone would not come up with.

Mario Krenn studied physics in Vienna and completed his doctorate in the field of quantum physics in Anton Zeilinger's group, where he later worked as a postdoc. In 2019, he moved to the University of Toronto on an Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship as a postdoc, where he worked at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. From fall 2021, he headed the “Artificial Scientist Lab” at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen until he accepted the call to Tübingen.