Material scientists strive to discover new materials or to understand existing materials better. Today, they employ modern technologies such as machine learning for this purpose. Ontologies assist in storing information and knowledge in an organized and structured format, akin to a dictionary for specific subjects. A vital tool in this process is "competency questions", which help verify if the created ontology truly contains the necessary knowledge.
At the FEMS EUROMAT 2023, Mirza Mohtashim Alam from FIZ Karlsruhe - Leibniz-Institut für Informationsinfrastruktur GmbH, member of the Task Area Ontology from our NFDI-MatWerk consortium, explained how these competency questions can be answered using large computer-controlled language models without the need to use complex computer languages. Stimulating discussions and interdisciplinary exchanges arose with enthusiasts from other materials science and engineering disciplines. We thank Mirza for his contribution and representation of our consortium during the largest European materials congress, which took place from 3rd to 7th September 2023, in Frankfurt am Main and online.