Materials Science PhD - AI Evaluator

Mercor; New York (NY); On-site; USD 83,000 - 124,000; Part time

Job summary

Mercor is hiring PhD and Master's scientists to author AI evaluation tasks for Sci Code. You will craft original, executable research problems that frontier models cannot solve.

Domains include materials science with a focus on semiconductor materials and molecular modeling. You will source material, write prompts, define grading criteria, and calibrate against models, ensuring tasks challenge state-of-the-art systems.

Qualifications

• PhD in materials science, materials engineering, applied physics, chemistry, or related field.
• Depth in semiconductor materials and molecular modeling.
• Proficiency in Python, R, or similar scientific computing languages.
• Experience with Git/GitHub and Docker in PR-driven workflows.

Responsibilities

• Source your own material from papers, datasets, or open repositories.
• Write scientific prompts based on inputs.
• Develop grading criteria for correct answers.
• Calibrate prompts against frontier models to fail cases.

Skills

Python

R

Git/GitHub

Docker

Education

PhD in Materials Science

Master's degree in related field

Tools

Docker

GitHub

Job description

Mercor is hiring PhD and Master's scientists to author AI evaluation tasks (Sci Code)

Mercor is partnering with leading AI labs on a new benchmark for scientific computing. You will author original, executable research problems that today's frontier models cannot solve.

Domains — depth required in at least two subdomains (with a coding focus)

• Materials science — semiconductor materials, molecular modeling

What you'll do

• Source your own material: a published paper, a Kaggle dataset, an open-source repository, or a scenario you design
• Write scientific prompts based on the input
• Build the grading criteria that define a correct answer
• Calibrate against frontier models — a task ships only when strong models fail it more often than they succeed

Required

• PhD in materials science, materials engineering, applied physics, chemistry, chemical engineering, or a closely related field
• Demonstrated depth in both of the following subdomains: semiconductor materials and molecular modeling
• Working proficiency in Python, R, or another relevant programming language for scientific computing
• Comfortable with Git/GitHub and running code in Docker — authoring runs through a pull-request workflow with automated quality checks

Preferred

• Publications in peer-reviewed journals
• Prior scientific software or research engineering experience

Engagement

• Duration: 6 weeks
• Commitment: part-time, 20+ hours per week
• Start date: immediate

Process

1. Upload your resume and application form
2. A 25-minute conversational interview covering your background, experience, and motivations
3. Follow up within a few days with next steps and onboarding