Research Physicist (Contract) — Remote, Part-Time

mercor; France; Remote; EUR 98,000 - 166,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking a Research Physics Expert for a remote contract role (~10 hours/week). You will tackle high-level physics problems, derive verifiable results, and provide Python-based templates with auto-grading functions.

The job requires strong publication experience and a track record in the relevant subfield. Responsibilities include deconstructing problems, auditing submitted work for correctness and scope, and selecting the golden reference among competing solutions, with thorough

Qualifications

• PhD or postdoc in the relevant subfield (senior PhD student acceptable).
• Experience as postdoc or junior professor in the relevant subfield.
• Hands-on familiarity with at least two canonical methods, evidenced by publications.

Responsibilities

• Solve research-level physics challenges end-to-end with verifiable derivations, code, and peer-reviewed references.
• Decompose challenges into standalone checkpoint sub-problems requiring genuine physical reasoning.
• Author Python answer templates with auto-grading functions for symbolic or numerical answers.
• Audit submitted solutions for correctness, scope, and method soundness; deliver actionable feedback across iterations.
• Adjudicate between parallel solver attempts and decide which solution becomes the golden reference.
• Document chain-of-thought reasoning, error tolerances, equivalent symbolic forms, and verification test cases.

Skills

Analytical reasoning

Publications

English proficiency

Education

PhD in relevant subfield

Postdoc or junior professor in the relevant subfield

Full professor or industry PI in the relevant subfield

Tools

LaTeX

Python

Jupyter

SymPy

Job description

Mercor is seeking a Research Physics Expert for a remote contract role (~10 hours/week). You will tackle high-level physics problems, derive verifiable results, and provide Python-based templates with auto-grading functions.

The job requires strong publication experience and a track record in the relevant subfield. Responsibilities include deconstructing problems, auditing submitted work for correctness and scope, and selecting the golden reference among competing solutions, with thorough