Oct 13, 2026

Biology PhD - Scientific Coder - AI Trainer

Job Description

Mercor is hiring PhD and Master's scientists to author AI evaluation tasks (Sci Code)

Mercor is partnering with leading AI labs on a new benchmark for scientific computing. You will author original, executable research problems that today's frontier models cannot solve.

Domains — depth required in at least two subdomains (with a coding focus)
  • Biology — ecology, biochemistry, genetics
What you'll do
  • Source your own material: a published paper, a Kaggle dataset, an open-source repository, or a scenario you design
  • Write scientific prompts based on the input
  • Build the grading criteria that define a correct answer
  • Calibrate against frontier models — a task ships only when strong models fail it more often than they succeed
Required
  • PhD in biology, biological sciences, biochemistry, genetics, ecology, or a closely related field
  • Demonstrated depth in at least two of the following subdomains: ecology, biochemistry, genetics
  • Working proficiency in Python, R, or another relevant programming language for scientific computing
  • Comfortable with Git/GitHub and running code in Docker — authoring runs through a pull-request workflow with automated quality checks
Preferred
  • Publications in peer-reviewed journals
  • Prior scientific software or research engineering experience
Engagement
  • Duration: 6 weeks
  • Commitment: part-time, 20+ hours per week
  • Start date: immediate
Process
  1. A 25-minute conversational interview covering your background, experience, and motivations
  2. Follow up within a few days with next steps and onboarding
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