This report documents the findings and co-creation outcomes of the European SCIANCE workshop titled “Automation of Lab Workflows & Collaboration,” which aimed to define strategic research and innovation priorities for Europe’s upcoming AI-in-Science infrastructure roadmap. Organized by DFKI, the event brought together key scientific experts who utilized a combination of initial quantitative surveys, active Miro-board brainstorming, and lightweight Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to establish a portfolio of long-term priorities. The expert panel actively challenged conventional, standalone mechanical baseline assumptions, shifting focus from routine singlepurpose hardware execution toward advanced European software orchestration layers and cross-vendor interoperability frameworks. A key finding from the consensus session indicates a strong prioritization of open standards, algorithm adaptation, and specialized human capital training over traditional commercial automation commodities. Ultimately, these validated community insights will be integrated into the SCIANCE co-creation track to systematically shape the broader Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) and implementation roadmaps for the Resource for AI Science in Europe (RAISE) initiative.
