Scientific Computing Expert — Life Science PHD

Turing, a global leader in AGI infrastructure, partners with cutting-edge AI laboratories to accelerate model development by providing high-quality training data, evaluations, and engineering expertise. We are currently seeking experts in Computational Life Sciences with strong scientific programming skills to join us on a contract basis. This role involves designing complex, realistic tasks that challenge AI agents to independently navigate scientific data, write and execute code, troubleshoot intermediate results, and produce scientifically valid outputs. The objective is to assess AI systems' ability to perform authentic multi-step scientific workflows rather than simply answering scientific questions.

Key Responsibilities:
- Design sophisticated, realistic agentic scientific workflows within the life sciences that require multiple computational steps, moving beyond simple scripts or single-question answers.
- Develop realistic input files, scientific datasets, detailed instructions, constraints, and clearly defined expected deliverables.
- Construct tasks that compel AI agents to inspect data, select appropriate analytical methods, execute comprehensive analyses, troubleshoot issues, and synthesize results effectively.
- Create reproducible expert solutions and establish objectively verifiable ground truths, alongside robust automated or semi-automated grading criteria to evaluate AI performance.
- Validate scientific assumptions, calculations, code, intermediate outputs, and final answers, ensuring all tasks are self-contained and executable within controlled, network-isolated environments.

Required Qualifications:
- Ph.D., postdoctoral experience, or equivalent research background in the life sciences, with a strong emphasis on computational and scientific programming skills.
- Proven expertise in scientific programming, particularly using Python.
- Demonstrated experience in conducting multi-step computational scientific analyses.
- Ability to independently validate both scientific reasoning and computational outputs to ensure accuracy and reliability.
- Specialized knowledge in one or more of the following areas: bioinformatics, computational genomics, systems biology, computational neuroscience, biostatistics, computational drug discovery, computational biochemistry, structural biology, protein engineering, or computational microbiology.

Engagement Details:
This is a contractor assignment requiring a commitment of at least 6 hours per day and a minimum of 40 hours per week, with a mandatory 4-hour overlap with Pacific Standard Time (PST). The contract duration is five weeks, with an expected start date in the upcoming week. Compensation is task-based, with payment of $300 per approved task. Please note that this is a contractor role and does not include medical benefits or paid leave.

This opportunity is ideal for computational life sciences professionals eager to contribute to frontier AI research by creating challenging scientific tasks that push the boundaries of AI capabilities in scientific problem-solving.