Biology PhD Coding Experts | $70/hr Remote
Overview
Mercor is assembling a scientific computing benchmark with leading AI labs. This remote contract puts your PhD-level biology expertise to work on AI evaluation. You will author original, executable research problems in at least two of ecology, biochemistry, and genetics, drawing from published papers, Kaggle datasets, or your own scenarios. You will also build grading criteria and calibrate tasks until frontier models fail them more often than they solve. The work runs through a pull-request workflow with Git and Docker, backed by automated quality checks.
What You'll Do6
- 1Pull source material for each task from published papers, Kaggle datasets, open-source repositories, or your own experimental designs.
- 2Write scientific prompts that describe a concrete research problem and require executable code for a solution.
- 3Construct grading rubrics that state exactly what makes a response correct, including edge cases and partial credit.
- 4Run your tasks against current frontier models and adjust difficulty until the models fail more often than they pass.
- 5Submit work through a pull-request workflow and respond to automated quality checklist feedback.
- 6Refine tasks based on test results and peer review before they ship.
Requirements5
- 1A PhD in biology, biological sciences, biochemistry, genetics, ecology, or a closely related discipline.
- 2Demonstrable depth in at least two of ecology, biochemistry, and genetics, with a coding focus in each.
- 3Working proficiency in Python, R, or another language used for scientific computing.
- 4Comfort with Git and GitHub for version control, plus hands-on experience with Docker containers.
- 5Peer-reviewed publications or prior research engineering experience (preferred).
Who Should Apply
The ideal candidate is a PhD biologist who writes code daily and can show real depth in at least two of ecology, biochemistry, and genetics. This role is less suited to researchers whose work stays entirely in the lab or who have never used Git or Docker for collaborative projects. Candidates often get rejected when they cannot name specific subdomains they know well or when their science background is strong but their Python/R skills are only basic. If you enjoy turning your research knowledge into well-defined computational challenges, this contract lets you put that skill to work.
Salary Insight
The contract pays $70 per hour for a six-week engagement at 20+ hours per week. That rate is in line with specialized AI evaluation work that requires a PhD and hands-on scientific programming. Since the role is remote and part-time, you also avoid commute costs and can fit it around other commitments.
Location
Required Skills
Application Tip
Highlight two biology subdomains with named examples, and link a GitHub repo or recent Python/R notebook that demonstrates your scientific coding. Mention any Docker containers you've used, because the pull-request workflow depends on that skill.
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1Application received
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