Five Grand Challenges in Material Science for AI to Solve

The announcement lists five long-standing, unsolved materials science problems—predictive theory of cuprate superconductivity, interfacial electrical properties from processing history, breaking the speed–accuracy barrier in quantum chemistry, tuning materials with light, and predicting heat transport across solid interfaces—with a $1 million prize pool for solutions. Submissions open in November 2026 and are sent by email, with each problem page specifying required contents and submissions bound by the Official Rules.