STEM Research Scientist - PhD

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.

Expert Professionals — STEM Research

Contract

$70–$100/hour

Remote

40 hours/week

• Guide research teams to close knowledge gaps in STEM domains by surfacing edge cases, ambiguities, and frontier problems where current models underperform.
• Design challenging, rigorous domain tasks and write accurate, well-reasoned solutions that demonstrate expert-level scientific and technical reasoning.
• Evaluate tasks and solutions produced by AI agents and other contributors, providing clear written technical feedback grounded in domain expertise.
• Develop evaluation frameworks and rubrics for assessing scientific reasoning quality across STEM domains.
• Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in training data.

• PhD (completed, enrolled, or equivalent research track) in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Materials Science, or another STEM discipline.
• 3+ years of research, academic, or industry experience in their primary STEM domain.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in at least one domain: computational modeling, laboratory methods, data analysis, statistical inference, programming, or equivalent scientific methods.
• Ability to commit to 40 hours per week during weekdays for the duration of the engagement.
• Strong written communication skills; ability to explain complex scientific or technical concepts clearly in writing.

• Prior experience with data annotation, labeling, evaluation, or human feedback collection.
• Experience with LLMs, AI systems, or agentic workflows; familiarity with agentic frameworks.

• W-2 employment with Cincinnatus LLC.