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Mercor · STEM & research

Physics Domain Expert - review AI outputs in your specialty

Listed on Mercor as “Physics Domain Expert”

$90-$140/hrRemoteContractPaid in USD
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How this rate compares

This listing

$90–$140 per hour

Typical in STEM & research

$70–$114 per hour

Within the typical range

Typical: the middle of the lowest and highest rates posted by 66 listings in this category on Seoulstart, in US dollars.

What this actually is

You design problems that stump current AI models, evaluate AI reasoning against the correct answer, write rubrics, and provide expert feedback. Often the highest-paid category because the expertise pool is small. The platform title (Physics Domain Expert) reflects the rate band and the expertise required, not the day-to-day work.

How Mercor picks people

  1. Upload your CV and answer the role's written questions.
  2. Do a video interview with Mercor's AI interviewer. Most take about 20 minutes, in English unless the role says otherwise.
  3. Some roles add a skills test. A test you pass once counts for similar roles.
  4. The project team reviews your results and sends offers to the people it picks.

Before you start

  • Take Mercor's free practice interview first. It does not count toward any application.
  • Use Chrome on a computer with a camera and microphone, in a quiet room.
  • You can retake an official interview up to 3 times, but hiring teams see how many times you retook it.

Not every applicant gets an offer. Prepare well for the interview.

How to prepare for the Mercor interview

Source: Mercor's help pages. talent.docs.mercor.com

Can you do this on your visa?

F-2 / F-4 / F-5 / F-6: open. E-1 to E-7: needs concurrent-employment permit. D-2 / D-4 students: S-3 permit, 20 hr/week cap. D-10 / D-8: case by case.

Korean tax on USD income

First 5 years in Korea: foreign-source income only taxed if remitted into Korea. After year 5: worldwide income. Full tax guide.

Original posting from Mercor

Help define how frontier AI models reason about physics.

1\. Overview

We are looking for senior physicists to improve how frontier AI models reason about real physics research.

Your scientific judgment is the substance of this role. You will review the quality of physics reasoning tasks and model outputs, write the problem specifications and reference solutions that define what "correct" looks like, and design benchmarks that show whether a model is genuinely improving. We are looking for a practicing specialist rather than a generalist.

This role is fully remote.

2\. Key Responsibilities

  • Expert review: Assess physics tasks and model outputs, catching flawed derivations, unjustified approximations, dimensional and limit errors, and answers that read well but would not survive peer review.
  • Problem specs and reference solutions: Write precise problem statements and rigorous reference solutions that reflect how research physics is actually done.
  • Benchmarks: Design challenging, research-level problems and evaluation sets in your area of specialization.
  • Calibration: Work with other researchers and experts in adjacent fields to turn tacit expert judgment into explicit, teachable criteria.

3\. Core Qualifications

  • Education: PhD in physics, astrophysics, applied physics, or a closely related field.
  • Seniority: A faculty appointment, principal investigator, staff or senior scientist, or an equivalent senior research role at a university, national laboratory, or research organization.
  • Domain depth: Genuine specialization in at least one area, for example condensed matter, high-energy or particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, atomic, molecular, optical and quantum physics, or statistical and computational physics.
  • Research record: A strong peer-reviewed publication record. Recognition such as competitive fellowships or awards is a plus.
  • AI fluency: Hands-on use of large language models in your work, and the judgment to tell a sound argument from a plausible-sounding wrong one.
  • Communication: Excellent written communication and the ability to give precise, well-structured feedback.
  • Location: Based in the United States.

Quoted from Mercor's public listing on 2026-11-13. We don't edit platform copy; honest framing is in the title and the “what this actually is” block above.

Mercor pays MantaWork a fee if it hires you through this link. Your pay is the same.