Abstract
Multi-agent AI scientists have shown improving performance across a diverse range of tasks. Yet a common approach is design-time agentic orchestration, which typically relies on fixed workflows. In contrast, human scientists coordinate and adjust their division of labor at runtime. We therefore ask: can AI scientists also coordinate at runtime? To this end, we introduce Runtime Agent Coordination (RAC), which selects agents from existing AI-scientist hosts during execution, assigns scoped work contracts, and provides artifact-grounded verification. Verification informs subsequent agents without blocking transitions or discarding artifacts. We conduct a single-seed exploratory evaluation across Agent Laboratory, EvoScientist, and ARK on ResearchClawBench, preserving host models, tools, and permissions under host-calibrated budgets. Four cumulative conditions separate native execution, runtime communication, runtime selection, and the combined addition of contracts and verification. Runtime selection yields the highest observed mean score for each host; adding contracts and verification reduces these means, with host-dependent outcomes relative to native execution. These results motivate runtime coordination while exposing the limits of additional coordination mechanisms under constrained budgets. Code is available at https://github.com/systemind-team/Runtime-AI-Scientist.
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Publication details
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- Open access
- Green open access
Cite this article
APA 7
Liu, Z., Luo, Y., Lu, J., Li, Y., Chen, Y., Xu, D., Shen, W. F., Qiu, X., & Wang, X. (2026). Can AI Scientists Coordinate at Runtime? https://omanscience.com/en/articles/can-ai-scientists-coordinate-at-runtime
MLA 9
Liu, Zijian, et al. "Can AI Scientists Coordinate at Runtime?" https://omanscience.com/en/articles/can-ai-scientists-coordinate-at-runtime.
Chicago (author–date)
Liu, Zijian, Yangzhixin Luo, Junyu Lu, Yi Li, Yu Chen, David Xu, William F. Shen, Xinchi Qiu, and Xisen Wang. 2026. "Can AI Scientists Coordinate at Runtime?" https://omanscience.com/en/articles/can-ai-scientists-coordinate-at-runtime.
Harvard
Liu, Z., Luo, Y., Lu, J., Li, Y., Chen, Y., Xu, D., Shen, W. F., Qiu, X. and Wang, X. (2026) 'Can AI Scientists Coordinate at Runtime?', Available at: https://omanscience.com/en/articles/can-ai-scientists-coordinate-at-runtime.
Vancouver
Liu Z, Luo Y, Lu J, Li Y, Chen Y, Xu D, et al. Can AI Scientists Coordinate at Runtime? https://omanscience.com/en/articles/can-ai-scientists-coordinate-at-runtime
IEEE
Z. Liu, Y. Luo, J. Lu, Y. Li, Y. Chen, D. Xu, W. F. Shen, X. Qiu, and X. Wang, "Can AI Scientists Coordinate at Runtime?," https://omanscience.com/en/articles/can-ai-scientists-coordinate-at-runtime.