Remote Research Physicist (Contract, $80–$140/hr)

mercor; United States; Remote; USD 110,000 - 193,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking a Research Physics Expert for a remote, contract-based role. You will tackle advanced physics challenges, develop verifiable derivations, code, and references, and establish golden solutions across iterations. Strong publication history and two canonical methods are expected.

Excellent English writing is required. Candidates should have a PhD or senior postdoc status and demonstrate expertise with LaTeX, Python, Jupyter, and SymPy.

Qualifications

• PhD or postdoc in the relevant subfield (senior PhD student minimum).
• Postdoc or junior professor in the relevant subfield ( PhD minimum).
• Full professor or industry research PI in the relevant subfield (senior postdoc or junior professor minimum).
• Hands-on familiarity with at least two canonical methods of the target subfield, demonstrable through publications.
• 3–5 representative publications (arXiv ID or DOI), ideally within the last ~5 years and in the target subfield.
• Working proficiency with LaTeX , Python , Jupyter , and SymPy .
• Strong written English (B2/C1/C2 minimum; native or near-native preferred).

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

LaTeX

Python

Jupyter

SymPy

Strong written English

Education

PhD or postdoc in relevant subfield

Job description

Mercor is seeking a Research Physics Expert for a remote, contract-based role. You will tackle advanced physics challenges, develop verifiable derivations, code, and references, and establish golden solutions across iterations. Strong publication history and two canonical methods are expected.

Excellent English writing is required. Candidates should have a PhD or senior postdoc status and demonstrate expertise with LaTeX, Python, Jupyter, and SymPy.