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.

Position: Computational Particle & Nuclear Physics Expert
Type:Contract
Compensation:$70–$100/hour
Location:Remote
Commitment:15–20 hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Design challenging computational problems to evaluate AI capabilities in Particle & Nuclear Physics.
• Develop problems requiring the use of scikit-hep and related HEP Python tools for data analysis and computations.
• Test and refine problems against state-of-the-art AI models to achieve target difficulty.
• Work independently to improve problem designs based on feedback and testing results.
• Collaborate asynchronously to ensure problem relevance and complexity.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• Graduate-level training in a relevant STEM field (MS, PhD, or equivalent research experience).
• Proven proficiency with at least one listed scientific software library through research publications, open-source contributions, or professional work.
• Strong Python skills for writing problem setups, oracle functions, and solution validators.
• Ability to work independently and refine problem designs based on feedback.
• Comfortable working in a Linux/terminal environment with remote compute sandboxes.