Physics Research Scientist - Fully Remote | Upto $70/Hr

Mercor; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; GBP 63,000 - 83,000; Part time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking Physics PhD Coding Experts for a remote, six-week contract. Compensation is $70 per hour, with a commitment of 20+ hours per week and flexible scheduling.

You will source material from published papers, Kaggle datasets, and open-source repositories, then write scientific prompts, build grading criteria, and calibrate tasks against frontier models.

The role requires independent work, strong coding skills in Python or R, and comfort with GitHub and Docker. Immediate start.

Qualifications

• PhD in physics, applied physics, or a closely related field.
• Depth in at least two subdomains: condensed matter, optics, quantum information/computing, computational physics, astrophysics, particle physics.
• Working proficiency in Python or R for scientific computing.
• Comfortable with Git/GitHub and running code in Docker.

Responsibilities

• Source material from published papers, Kaggle datasets, open-source repositories, or self-designed scenarios.
• Write scientific prompts based on sourced inputs.
• Build grading criteria to define correct answers.
• Calibrate tasks against frontier models, ensuring tasks ship only when strong models fail more often than they succeed.
• Work independently and asynchronously to meet deadlines while improving AI model performance.

Skills

Python

R

Education

PhD in physics

Tools

Git/GitHub

Docker

Job description

About the job

Mercor connects elite creative and technical talent with leading AI research labs. Headquartered in San Francisco, our investors include Benchmark, General Catalyst, Peter Thiel, Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and Jack Dorsey.

Position: Physics PhD Coding Experts
Type: Contract
Compensation: $70/hour
Location: Remote
Duration: 6 weeks
Commitment: 20+ hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Source material from published papers, Kaggle datasets, open-source repositories, or self-designed scenarios.
• Write scientific prompts based on sourced inputs.
• Build grading criteria to define correct answers.
• Calibrate tasks against frontier models, ensuring tasks ship only when strong models fail more often than they succeed.
• Work independently and asynchronously to meet deadlines while improving AI model performance.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• PhD in physics, applied physics, or a closely related field.
• Depth in at least two subdomains: condensed matter, optics, quantum information/computing, computational physics, astrophysics, particle physics.
• Working proficiency in Python, R, or another relevant programming language for scientific computing.
• Comfortable with Git/GitHub and running code in Docker.

Preferred

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

Start Date

• Immediate

Interview Process

• A 25-minute conversational interview covering your background, experience, and motivations.
• Follow up within a few days with next steps and onboarding.

Resources & Support

• For details about the interview process and platform information, please check: https://talent.docs.mercor.com/welcome
• For any help or support, reach out to: [e-mail]

PS: Our team reviews applications daily. Please complete your AI interview and application steps to be considered for this opportunity.