COAST PCL: A Programmable Cloud Laboratory at BioPACIFIC MIP

BioPACIFIC MIP has been selected to establish a node in a new national network of AI-programmable cloud laboratories (PCLs). The U.S. National Science Foundation PCL initiative establishes a nationwide network of 20 nodes that test, scale, and demonstrate new methods and tools that advance automated science and engineering. The BioPACIFIC MIP node — COAST PCL, the Computation-Optimized Automated Soft materials Technology Programmable Cloud Laboratory — will connect and automate the facility’s existing instrumentation, enabling experiments to be designed, scheduled, and run remotely through a single web interface. By bringing together high-throughput experimentation, robotics, and AI-guided experiment planning, COAST PCL aims to make BioPACIFIC MIP accessible from anywhere, at any time.

A phased rollout

COAST PCL is being built gradually rather than launched all at once. Automation will come online in phases over the course of the coming year, beginning with the Chemspeed automated synthesis platform alongside reagent-preparation and characterization systems, connected by reconfigurable robotic arms and coordinated through orchestration software integrated with the MIP’s existing Digital Ecosystem. Additional synthesis, purification, and characterization tools will be integrated as the node matures.

As these capabilities come online, users will be able to build workflows through a web platform — designing them directly or working with an AI assistant that translates a described experiment into an executable protocol — and submit them to a scheduler that queues each job against instrument availability. Over time, cloud operation is expected to reduce travel and scheduling bottlenecks, produce more consistent and completely captured process data, and support faster iteration on the design–build–test loop without requiring researchers to be at the bench. Cloud access is being added alongside BioPACIFIC MIP’s existing hands-on model, not in place of it; on-site access to instrumentation and staff expertise will continue.

Access and data

COAST PCL will follow the same access framework as BioPACIFIC MIP. Use of instrumentation and staff expertise will be free for approved U.S. academic, government, and non-profit users conducting non-proprietary research, with fee-based access available for industry users and proprietary work. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis once the node begins operation.

In keeping with the network’s broader commitment to open, AI-ready, and reusable data, non-proprietary users will be asked to make their workflow and materials data public after publication or IP filing, and within one year of project completion. Virtual recruitment and on-boarding workshops will be offered as the node comes online, covering remote operation of instrumentation, high-throughput experimentation, and the construction of cloud workflows.