http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=robotic+scientist

"Grad students often feel like drones, doing grunt laboratory work for a pittance. Findings published in the journal Nature in 2004 probably won’t make them feel much better about their jobs. Scientists report that they have developed a robot that can formulate hypotheses, design experiments to test them and analyze the results. What is more, it performs just as well as real grad students and spends less money."

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000C979B-E4E8-1005-98CC83414B7F0000