Is this job worth applying to?

Pay

About typicalTops out at $77/hr. The typical top rate across 106 priced science listings is $90/hr.

Getting in

Some screening~30 min: resume upload + 20-min AI interview. Resume showing real experience in your field.

Steady work

Work is patchyProjects can pause or end with little notice.

Payout record

Pays on timeSchedule: weekly, every Wednesday. Paid via Stripe (Wise in a few countries).

Freshness

Older postPosted 2mo ago. Still listed on Mercor on Nov 6, 2026.

Where you live

Not statedThe listing names no country.

The job description

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

How do you apply to Mercor?

Apply on Mercor

The Apply button opens this post on Mercor's own site. You apply with them, not with Rubric. Budget about 30 min: resume upload + 20-min AI interview.

Get through screening

What Mercor asks for after you apply:

Take the recorded AI video interview (practice round available)
Complete any role-specific assessment and the ID check
Accept the offer and sign the contract

Start work and get paid

Pay schedule: weekly, every Wednesday. Paid via Stripe (Wise in a few countries). You're paid for the work they hand out, not a fixed salary.

Mercor also needs

Resume showing real experience in your field
Webcam with your full face visible for the AI interview
Government ID

Red flags

Red flagLong waits with no offer after passing the interview
Red flagProjects ending abruptly with little warning

What is Mercor like to work for?

Hiring marketplace that screens professionals with an AI video interview and places them on hourly contracts training and evaluating models for AI labs.

Advertised pay	$20–200/hr
Getting in	Some screening
Application takes	~30 min: resume upload + 20-min AI interview
How you get paid	Weekly, every Wednesday, via Stripe (Wise in a few countries)
Payout record	Pays on time
Countries	Hires in many countries and runs its pay week on India Standard Time; Mercor keeps a list of locations it cannot onboard, and some projects are US-only.

Most listings sit around $50–100/hr; healthcare, legal and finance roles pay the most, language and generalist roles the least.