A COMPARE Sandpit on Machine Learning and Computational Modelling was held in Birmingham on 11 March, with around 40 attendees from both universities. The first session examined the application of machine learning techniques for image analysis, with talks from Jeremy Pike (UoB) on content-aware image restoration, Eva Frickel (UoB) on analysing host response to microbes, and Dylan Owen (UoB) on machine learning for single molecule cluster analysis. A second session saw talks from Mireia Jimenez Roses (UoN) on prediction of activity cliffs, Yann Lanoisellee (UoN) on transient caging, Keverne Louison (UoN) on receptor dimerization, and Anna Simmonds (UoB) on structural analysis of peptides with mass spectrometry and molecular modelling.

Excellent discussion followed, with a particular focus on how non-experts could get started in applying these methods to their problems.

Many thanks to all the speakers for their excellent talks, and to all who came for a lively and productive discussion.