Google AI Hackathon: Insights from our Director
07 Oct 2026
Ada Lovelace Centre is co-hosting a Google AI Hackathon, held at the Rutherford Appletion Laboratory Visitor Centre R112 on 24 September 2026.
Recently, we brought together 70+ colleagues from academia and industry to explore how AI can accelerate scientific discovery for thousands of researchers.
We hosted powerful talks from PA Consulting and Google Cloud, came together to collaborate with colleagues and learn directly from specialists, and worked alongside local STFC experts to tackle real-world challenges. We heard some fantastic team project presentations and learned a great deal from seeing different approaches and use cases.
Reflecting on the significance of the event, Paul Quinn, Director of the Ada Lovelace Centre said:
“One of the biggest lessons from the hackathon was that success with AI isn’t about jumping straight into coding. Several teams discovered that investing time upfront in defining the problem, exploring options, and clearly articulating their intent led to much stronger outcomes. The ‘Elephants and Goldfish’ concept resonated with many participants, highlighting that while AI can accelerate development, consideration of design, constraints and problem formulation remains essential.
I was also impressed by how quickly participants adopted new approaches and tools. It was striking how much progress could be achieved in just a few days when people combined their domain expertise with these emerging AI capabilities.
Participants ranged from AI beginners to more experienced users, and a key takeaway for me is that AI is becoming a practical tool for everyone, not just software specialists. The enthusiasm, creativity and pace of learning across the teams were remarkable. The hackathon demonstrated the value of bringing together people from different backgrounds to experiment, learn from one another, and build confidence with AI. It’s a format that STFC will continue to build on.”
More from the event:
