Skip to content

Research task catalog

Browse scientific questions, proposed environments, and illustrative research workflows.

20
Tasks
10
Domains
1
Verified
31
Simulations

Status reflects the current collection stage. The released task set will follow scientific review; sample workflows are labeled individually.

20 tasks

Rank perovskites for isothermal solar thermochemical water splitting

Materials ScienceHardUnder review

Use UMA-S-1p2 vacancy energetics and configurational thermodynamics to estimate H₂ yield at 1400 °C and rank five LaBO₃₋δ perovskites across four candidate polymorphs.

AJ · 2026

6 steps4 tools · Materials Project API, ASE + pymatgen

Maximize non-configurational oxygen-vacancy entropy in oxides

Materials ScienceExpertUnder review

Search 20–40 nonstoichiometric oxides for a vacancy-formation entropy that rivals or exceeds ceria, while retaining re-oxidizable enthalpy and single-phase stability.

AJ · 2026

Open discovery5 tools · Materials Project API, ASE + pymatgen

Pin down the upper critical dimension of spin glasses in a field

Materials ScienceExpertUnder review

Determine the exact upper critical dimension D_U of spin glasses in an external field by tuning 1D long-range models across an effective dimension and locating where mean-field critical exponents break down.

Gangmin Son · 2026

Proposal3 tools · 1D Long-Range Spin-Glass Model, Parallel Tempering MC

De novo mini-binder design against a tumor antigen

Protein EngineeringHardSeed

Design and rank de novo mini-protein binders to a specified epitope, then filter by predicted affinity and developability.

Dr. Lena Whitfield · 2024

2 steps2 tools · ESM3, AlphaFold 3

Infer cosmological parameters from simulated surveys

AstrophysicsExpertSeed

Run forward simulations and use simulation-based inference to recover cosmological parameters.

Dr. Johan Bergström · 2024

2 steps1 tools · GADGET-4 (N-body)

Evolve an HACS enzyme with record activity toward formaldehyde

Protein EngineeringExpertVerified

Run a full active-learning directed-evolution loop — homolog mining, fitness modeling, ESM3 design, and HPLC validation — to find an HACS variant more active toward formaldehyde than any known or engineered enzyme.

Nhat (first author) · 2025

5 steps7 tools · HMMER / Jackhmmer, MMseqs2

Downscale extreme-precipitation fields over a basin

Climate & Earth ScienceHardSeed

Downscale coarse precipitation to high resolution and preserve extreme-event statistics.

Dr. Tomás Herrera · 2024

1 steps1 tools · ClimaX Downscaler

Generative lead optimization under a multi-property objective

Drug DiscoveryHardSeed

Optimize a lead scaffold for potency while maintaining solubility and low toxicity.

Dr. Olivia Brandt · 2024

1 steps2 tools · ADMET-AI, AutoDock Vina

Cryo-EM reconstruction of a membrane-protein complex

Structural BiologyExpertSeed

Process a cryo-EM particle stack to a sub-3 Å reconstruction and validate the map.

Dr. Sofia Karlsson · 2024

2 steps1 tools · RELION

Structure-based virtual screen for a kinase inhibitor

Drug DiscoveryMediumSeed

Dock a compound library against a kinase pocket and triage hits by affinity and ADMET.

Dr. Aiko Tanaka · 2023

2 steps3 tools · AutoDock Vina, DiffDock

Somatic variant calling in low-coverage tumor WGS

GenomicsMediumSeed

Call somatic SNVs/indels from a noisy low-coverage tumor–normal pair and maximize F1 against a truth set.

Dr. Priya Nandakumar · 2024

1 steps1 tools · DeepVariant

Decode reach kinematics from motor-cortex spikes

NeuroscienceMediumSeed

Infer spikes from imaging, then decode 2-D hand velocity and maximize R² against ground truth.

Dr. Grace Liu · 2023

1 steps1 tools · Suite2p

Free-energy perturbation for relative binding affinity

Computational ChemistryHardSeed

Run alchemical FEP to rank congeneric ligands and match experimental ΔΔG.

Dr. Yuki Sato · 2023

1 steps1 tools · GROMACS

Predict a transient protein–protein complex

Structural BiologyMediumSeed

Predict the structure of a weakly-bound complex and validate the interface against crosslinks.

Dr. Ahmed Rahimi · 2024

1 steps1 tools · AlphaFold 3

Cell-type annotation of an unlabeled single-cell atlas

GenomicsMediumSeed

Cluster a single-cell dataset and assign cell-type labels matching an expert reference.

Dr. Marco Bellini · 2023

1 steps1 tools · Scanpy

DFT reaction-barrier prediction for a catalytic cycle

Computational ChemistryHardSeed

Compute activation barriers across a catalytic cycle and match reference energetics.

Dr. Hannah Okafor · 2023

1 steps2 tools · PySCF (DFT), GROMACS

Design a heterologous pathway for a target metabolite

Systems & Synthetic BiologyHardSeed

Use flux-balance analysis to design gene insertions/knockouts that maximize product yield.

Dr. Camille Dubois · 2023

1 steps1 tools · COBRApy (FBA)

Discover a stable ternary oxide for solid-state batteries

Materials ScienceHardSeed

Propose ternary oxide compositions, relax structures, and rank by energy above hull.

Dr. Wei Zhang · 2023

1 steps1 tools · MatGL / M3GNet

Real-time classification of survey transients

AstrophysicsMediumSeed

Classify streaming multi-band light curves and maximize early-epoch accuracy.

Dr. Elena Vasquez · 2023

1 steps1 tools · Transient Classifier

Tune a genetic toggle switch for robust bistability

Systems & Synthetic BiologyMediumSeed

Choose promoter/RBS strengths so a synthetic toggle is bistable across conditions.

Dr. Ravi Menon · 2022

1 steps1 tools · COBRApy (FBA)