Co-Op, Autonomous SEM

Responsibilities

• Support development of autonomous SEM workflow using vendor APIs
• Test navigation logic for locating particles, surfaces, and regions of interest
• Evaluate image quality using criteria such as focus, contrast, and feature visibility
• Support experiments connecting imaging decisions to downstream analysis and ML training
• Document acquisition behavior, edge cases, and failure modes
• Collaborate with ML scientists, experimental scientists, and software partners
• Help define practical guardrails for autonomous SEM operation

Requirements

• Currently pursuing or completed a PhD in Materials Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Applied Physics, Computer Science, or a related field
• Experience building automated scientific or laboratory workflows using Python
• Deep understanding of electron optics and electron-beam interaction with matter
• Familiarity with MCP servers, LLM-enabled workflows, or agentic control of scientific instruments
• Experience with closed-loop learning, active learning, Bayesian optimization, or reward-driven experimental workflows
• Ability to translate expert instrument operations into documented workflow logic

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with autonomous microscopy or self-driving labs
• Experience with data analysis for scientific images, spectra, or microscopy datasets
• Experience with image segmentation, particle finding, or feature detection

About the Company

Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to solve humankind's greatest challenges. LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory™ instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously.