Patent ID: 7216113

Claim:
A method for carrying out a set of experiments, the method comprising: providing to a remote user at a first location a computer-implemented experiment design tool for generating an experiment request for execution of a set of experiments, the experiment request including electronic data embodying an experiment design defining a set of experiments, the experiment design including electronic data defining an experiment matrix having a plurality of matrix elements, one or more starting materials assigned to the matrix elements and one or more process conditions to be applied to the matrix elements, each of a plurality of matrix elements being defined by a unique combination of starting materials and/or process conditions, the experiment design also including electronic data defining a screening method to be applied to generate experimental results; receiving at a second location a first experiment request for a set of experiments to be performed at the second location, the request including a first experiment design generated by the experiment design tool, the first experiment design defining a first experiment matrix having a first plurality of matrix elements, a first set of one or more starting materials, and a first set of one or more process conditions, the first experiment design also defining a first screening method, the second location being remote from the first location; preparing a first library of materials at the second location according to the first experiment design, the first library of materials corresponding to the first experiment matrix, the first library of materials having a plurality of members corresponding to elements of the first experiment matrix, the plurality of members containing a plurality of actual compounds, compositions, materials or mixtures; applying the first set of process conditions to the members of the first library of materials at the second location to transform at least one of the starting materials into at least one product; applying the first screening method to the members of the first library of materials at the second location to generate experimental results; and providing electronic data describing the experimental results to the remote user at the first location.