MercorPosted 13 Aug 2026

Applied Physics Benchmark Specialist

Pay

$61–77/hr

Work

Remote · Contract

Eligibility

No stated location restriction

Field

Science & research

Skills

PhysicsApplied PhysicsSemiconductor PhysicsNanoelectronicsSpintronicsPhotonicsQuantum OpticsUltrafast PhysicsQuantum SensingMetrologyPlasma PhysicsFusion EnergyNonlinear DynamicsTurbulenceGeophysicsReservoir SimulationAstrophysicsMathematical FormalismMultiple-Choice Question DesignAcademic Problem DesignPhysics Olympiad WritingAcademic Referencing

About this role

Role Overview

We are seeking expert physicists to author and review high-quality academic assessment content for an AI research initiative. You will write and verify rigorous multiple-choice questions across core physics domains, evaluate solution quality, and help establish gold-standard benchmarks used to advance AI capabilities.

You will be assigned one of two task types:

  • Question Authoring — Create original, challenging multiple-choice questions in your area of physics expertise, rate their difficulty, and submit them for review.
  • Question Verification — Review pre-written questions for accuracy, clarity, and rigor. Edit where needed, rate difficulty, and document any changes made.

Physics Domains Covered

Semiconductor Physics, Nanoelectronics & Spintronics, Photonics, Quantum Optics & Ultrafast, Quantum Sensing & Metrology, Plasma Physics & Fusion Energy, Nonlinear Dynamics & Turbulence, Geophysics & Reservoir Simulation.

Key Responsibilities

  • Author original physics questions that test deep conceptual understanding, not surface-level recall
  • Ensure questions are unambiguous, self-contained, and precisely defined — all necessary information must be in the problem statement
  • Rate each question's difficulty: Medium (intro undergraduate), Hard (advanced undergraduate), or Expert (post-graduate and above)
  • Provide 1 correct answer and 9 plausible but subtly incorrect alternatives that challenge expert-level solvers
  • Write step-by-step Chain-of-Thought solutions with clear, concise intermediate steps in markdown format
  • Supply 1–5 academic references per question from reputable sources (peer-reviewed journals, university repositories)
  • For verification tasks: flag issues with clarity, completeness, precision, or solvability and justify any edits made

Ideal Qualifications

  • PhD or doctoral candidate in Physics, Applied Physics, Astrophysics, or a closely related field
  • Master's degree considered for candidates with exceptional depth in a specific subdomain
  • Strong command of graduate-level physics concepts and mathematical formalism
  • Experience with rigorous academic problem design or physics olympiad writing is a strong plus
  • Excellent written English and ability to express complex ideas clearly and concisely

More About the Opportunity

  • Expected commitment: 10+ hours/week
  • Asynchronous, fully remote work

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