Fourth Workshop on Multimodal AI

11–12 June 2026, UCL East Campus, One Pool Street, London, UK

Latest news:

Hackathon registration is now open: Register by 4 June 2026
Hackathon webinar and Hackathon slides are now available
Standard registrations are now open: Early-bird registration has now closed. Register by 5 June 2026
Accepted abstracts
Tentative programme now available
Early bird registrations now closed
Call for abstracts now closed
Travel bursaries now closed
Volunteer opportunities now closed
Sponsorship opportunities

We are pleased to invite you to join us for our Fourth Workshop on Multimodal AI (MultimodalAI’26), taking place on 11–12 June 2026 at the UCL East Campus, One Pool Street, London. This workshop was an in-person-only event, preceded by a full-day hackathon on 10th June.

Multimodal AI integrates diverse types of data, including text, images, audio, time series, graphs, and more. It is rapidly transforming how we engage with information and technology. MultimodalAI’26 will bring together researchers and practitioners from AI, data science, and related scientific and applied fields to discuss challenges, share innovative solutions, explore future collaborations, and strengthen the UK’s growing multimodal AI community.

The workshop is hosted by the UK Open Multimodal AI Network (UKOMAIN), a £1.8 million EPSRC Network Plus initiative. The programme will feature:

Keynote presentations by leading experts
Community pitches, talks, and poster sessions
Engaging panel discussions
Updates from open multimodal AI benchmark projects
Funding and policy briefings
A full-day pre-workshop hackathon on 10 June
Travel bursaries and volunteering opportunities to support inclusive participation

Prizes will be awarded for outstanding talks, pitches, posters, and hackathon contributions.

Keynote Speakers

Aron Walsh

CSO at CuspAI and Professor in Materials Design at Imperial College London

Chris Barnes

Head of Science of AI at National Physical Laboratory and Professor of Systems and Synthetic Biology at UCL

Henry Lee

CEO at Cultivarium

Julia Hirschberg

Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University

Tom Pollard

Research Scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Technical Director of PhysioNet

Zoe Kourtzi

Professor of Cognitive Computational Neuroscience at University of Cambridge and CSO at Prodromic

Time	Event
10:00 – 18:00	Hackathon
10:00 – 17:00	Early registration

Tentative Programme

Workshop Day 1: 11 June 2026

Time	Event
09:30 – 10:00	Registration, coffee/tea, and biscuits
10:00 – 10:15	Welcome address: Amanda Brock, CEO at OpenUK
10:15 – 10:30	Opening talk: Haiping Lu, Director, UK Open Multimodal AI Network
10:30 – 11:10	Keynote 1: Aron Walsh, CSO at CuspAI and Professor in Materials Design at Imperial College London
	Title: Materials on Demand
	Abstract: The inverse design problem (given a target property or function, identify the optimal material) represents one of the central challenges in materials science. The landscape of materials theory and simulation is addressing this problem through the integration of new techniques and tools from the artificial intelligence (AI) community. Progress in hardware, including classical supercomputers and emerging quantum computers, alongside software advancements incorporating advanced algorithms and statistical machine learning models, is expanding what is now possible. A particular opportunity lies in multimodal AI, which can bridge heterogeneous data streams spanning computation, synthesis, and characterisation to build richer and more transferable representations of materials. Recent developments, such as large language models and generative diffusion techniques, are unlocking application areas ranging from multimodal characterisation to integration with self-driving laboratories. I will survey the evolution of data-driven approaches to materials on demand, highlighting their potential to expedite the identification of compounds essential for the next generation of clean energy technologies. The talk will close with reflections on the translation of academic research into emerging industry, with particular attention to the growing AI-for-materials ecosystem.
11:10 – 11:45	Community talks 1
11:45 – 12:00	Group photos
12:00 – 13:20	Lunch and posters
13:20 – 14:00	Keynote 2: Julia Hirschberg, Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University
	Title: Radicalization and De-Radicalization in Social Media
14:00 – 14:50	Community talks 2
14:50 – 15:50	Coffee/tea, biscuits, and posters
15:50 – 16:30	Keynote 3: Chris Barnes, Head of Science of AI at National Physical Laboratory and Professor of Systems and Synthetic Biology at UCL
	Title: An Overview of AI at NPL
16:30 – 17:20	Panel discussion 1
17:20 – 17:30	Hackathon winner announcement
17:30 – 20:00	Networking reception

Workshop Day 2: 12 June 2026

Time	Event
08:30 – 09:00	Registration, coffee/tea, and biscuits
09:00 – 09:20	Invited talk
09:20 – 10:00	Keynote 4: Henry Lee, CEO at Cultivarium
	Title: Scaling Biological Expertise
10:00 – 10:25	OMAIB project showcase
10:25 – 11:25	Coffee/tea, biscuits, and posters
11:25 – 12:05	Keynote 5: Zoe Kourtzi, Professor of Cognitive Computational Neuroscience at University of Cambridge and CSO at Prodromic
	Title: Multimodal AI for Early Dementia Prediction: From Cloud to Clinic
12:05 – 12:40	Community talks 3
12:40 – 14:00	Lunch and posters
14:00 – 14:40	Keynote 6: Tom Pollard, Research Scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Technical Director of PhysioNet
	Title: Data for Health AI in a Time of Change
14:40 – 15:30	Panel discussion 2
15:30 – 15:50	Prize winner announcement
15:50 – 16:00	Closing remarks
16:00 – 17:00	Post-workshop networking

Key Dates and Deadlines

		Close Date
Call for Abstracts		Wed, 6th May

Abstract Acceptance Notification		Mon, 11th May

Early Bird Registration		Closes when full or Mon, 18th May

Cancellation Deadline (with refund)		Tue, 26th May

Call for Volunteers		Wed, 6th May

Volunteer Acceptance Notification		Mon, 11th May

Travel Bursary for Inclusive Participation		Wed, 6th May

Travel Bursary Decision Notification		Mon, 11th May

Organising Committee

Haiping Lu

Director of the UK Open Multimodal AI Network, Professor of Machine Learning & Head of AI Research Engineering, University of Sheffield

Nicola Morley

Deputy Director of the UK Open Multimodal AI Network & Professor of Materials Physics

Peter Charlton

Lead for Early Career Researchers at the UK Open Multimodal AI Network & Senior Research Scientist, Nokia Bell Labs

Nataliya Tkachenko

Lead for Industry & Public Engagement at the UK Open Multimodal AI Network & Generative AI Ethics & Assurance Lead, Lloyds Banking Group

Yao Zhang

Lead for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at the UK Open Multimodal AI Network & Lecturer in Marine/Maritime Digitalisation and Automation, UCL

Dezong Zhao

Lead for UKRI and Government at the UK Open Multimodal AI Network & Reader in Autonomous Systems, The University of Glasgow

Aayush Chiniwalla

Network Coordinator of the UK Open Multimodal AI Network

Xianyuan Liu

Senior AI Research Engineer & Assistant Head of AI Research Engineering, University of Sheffield

Partners

Our Key Sponsors

Contact Us

Email the organisers: multimodalai26-group@sheffield.ac.uk

UCL East Campus, One Pool Street, London, E20 2AF