Physics Domain Expert (AI) at Mercor

Physics Domain Expert | $90-140/hr | Remote (US)

About the role

Help define how frontier AI models reason about physics. You will review the quality of physics reasoning tasks and model outputs, write the problem specifications and reference solutions that define what "correct" looks like, and design benchmarks that show whether a model is genuinely improving. Your scientific judgment is the substance of this role. This is an hourly contract position, fully remote within the United States.

What you'll do

• Expert review: Assess physics tasks and model outputs, catching flawed derivations, unjustified approximations, dimensional and limit errors, and answers that read well but would not survive peer review.
• Problem specs and reference solutions: Write precise problem statements and rigorous reference solutions that reflect how research physics is actually done.
• Benchmarks: Design challenging, research-level problems and evaluation sets in your area of specialization.
• Calibration: Work with other researchers and experts in adjacent fields to turn tacit expert judgment into explicit, teachable criteria.

Requirements

• PhD in physics, astrophysics, applied physics, or a closely related field.
• Faculty appointment, principal investigator, staff or senior scientist, or an equivalent senior research role at a university, national laboratory, or research organization.
• Genuine specialization in at least one area, for example condensed matter, high-energy or particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, atomic, molecular, optical and quantum physics, or statistical and computational physics.
• Strong peer-reviewed publication record; recognition such as competitive fellowships or awards is a plus.
• Hands-on use of large language models in your work, and the judgment to tell a sound argument from a plausible-sounding wrong one.
• Excellent written communication and the ability to give precise, well-structured feedback.
• Based in the United States.

Pay and schedule

$90-140/hr, paid hourly. Fully remote.