Physics Research Scientist

Job overview

The Physics Research Scientist role is fully remote, with the employer headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Compensation is $70 per hour. The work supports AI research labs through Mercor’s talent network. The role uses physics expertise and scientific computing to create and calibrate challenging tasks for frontier AI models. By sourcing scientific material, writing prompts, and defining grading criteria, the expert contributes to improving AI model performance.

What you'll do

• Source material from published papers, Kaggle datasets, open-source repositories, or self-designed scenarios
• write scientific prompts
• build grading criteria
• calibrate tasks against frontier models
• and work independently and asynchronously to meet deadlines.

What we're looking for

Skills & competencies

physics research scientist

physics phd

scientific computing

python

github

docker

ai model performance

remote

san francisco ca

mercor

$70/hr

contract

20+ hours/week

Work arrangement

• Weekend coverage required

Why this role

Six-week contract; commitment of 20 or more hours per week. Requires a PhD in physics, applied physics, or a closely related field, depth in at least two listed physics subdomains, and proficiency in Python, R, or another relevant language.

About the employer

Mercor is hiring for this role. Industry: Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology). Sector: 54.