Physics - Research Collaborator

Physics - Research Collaborator

$70-$100 per hour

Part-time position Remote, US

Join a leading AI lab's cutting-edge research team to be at the core of the AI revolution, where your expertise fuels the development of the most advanced LLMs.

Role Overview

We are seeking advanced Physics Researchers & PhD Students to contribute to a project supporting a frontier-model evaluation effort focused on physics reasoning and problem-solving. You'll design and validate challenging benchmark tasks to help surface and diagnose reasoning gaps in a target model. The work centers on building robust, real-world physics tasks with verifiable solutions and then analyzing model behavior.

Key Responsibilities

• Design challenging, real-world physics problems spanning areas such as classical mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and other physics subfields.
• Prepare all necessary components, including detailed problem statements, golden solutions, and evaluation criteria.
• Evaluate the model's performance on the tasks.
• Identify tasks where the target model fails, specifically classifying failures in physics reasoning and mathematical derivation.
• Analyze model trajectories to observe and extract core capability loss patterns.

Core Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in or recently completed a PhD program in Physics or a closely related field (e.g., Astrophysics, Applied Physics, Condensed Matter) at a top-tier university.
• Deep expertise in one or more subfields of physics, with strong mathematical and analytical skills.
• Ability to write clear, rigorous, and well-structured physics problems and solutions.
• Verbal and written communication skills, problem-solving skills, and the ability to work independently.
• Ability to engage reliably for 8+ hours/week.

More about the Opportunity

• About Cincinnatus LLC: Cincinnatus is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for full-time and long-term contingent roles. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W-2 employment, payroll, benefits, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high-impact initiatives.
• Applicants must be located in the United States with eligible work authorization.

We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request.

Contract and Payment Terms

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• This is a fully remote role that can be completed on your own schedule.
• Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
• Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
• Please note: We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.

About Mercor

Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier models using human expertise. You will work on projects that focus on training and enhancing AI systems. You will be paid competitively, collaborate with leading researchers, and help shape the next generation of AI systems in your area of expertise.