Physics Domain Expert Part-time

Physics Domain Expert

$90-$140 / hr

Hourly contract Remote (United States)

New opportunity

Early applicant

$90-$140 per hour Posted by Mercor

Application

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Resume | Domain Expert Interview | Availability & AI Experience – STEM Domain Experts | Work Authorization

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All application steps are reused whenever another role requires the same step, so you never have to upload your resume or take the same interview twice

Location requirements

United States

Help define how frontier AI models reason about physics.

1. Overview

We are looking for senior physicists to improve how frontier AI models reason about real physics research.

Your scientific judgment is the substance of this role. 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. We are looking for a practicing specialist rather than a generalist.

This role is fully remote.

2. Key Responsibilities

• 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.

3. Core Qualifications

• Education: PhD in physics, astrophysics, applied physics, or a closely related field.
• Seniority: A faculty appointment, principal investigator, staff or senior scientist, or an equivalent senior research role at a university, national laboratory, or research organization.
• Domain depth: 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.
• Research record: A strong peer-reviewed publication record. Recognition such as competitive fellowships or awards is a plus.
• AI fluency: Hands-on use of large language models in your work, and the judgment to tell a sound argument from a plausible-sounding wrong one.
• Communication: Excellent written communication and the ability to give precise, well-structured feedback.
• Location: Based in the United States.

We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request.

Contract and Payment Terms

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• This is a fully remote role that can be completed on your own schedule.
• Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
• Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
• Please note: We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.

About Mercor

Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier models using human expertise. You will work on projects that focus on training and enhancing AI systems. You will be paid competitively, collaborate with leading researchers, and help shape the next generation of AI systems in your area of expertise.