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Materials Science Expert
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About the Role
The research teams behind the best-known AI models come to Mercor for materials science judgment they can't generate on their own. Your standards and expertise become the rubric that frontier AI is graded against. This is a standing listing for materials scientists who want AI training and evaluation work, not a specific job opening. It stays open whether or not a matching project is running this week. New projects start on short notice, so instead of posting and pulling a listing each time, we keep one open per field and draw from it when one begins.
What You'll Do
- We match materials scientists in the network to projects like:
- Writing a materials problem from work you have done, with the system, the processing history, and the property target, plus the reference answer a model's attempt gets graded against
- Grading model-written structure-property reasoning: whether the microstructure explains the property, whether the characterization supports the claim, whether the processing window is realistic
- Flagging where a model's proposed material meets the spec on paper and fails in service, given fatigue, corrosion, thermal cycling, or what can actually be manufactured
- Past rates have run $60 to $120 an hour, set per project by scope and depth.
- Apply here with your resume and confirm where you work from, then take a short AI interview, about 20 minutes total.
- We verify your background and add you to the materials science pool.
- When a project needs materials science expertise, we invite matching people from the pool to that specific listing. It names the rate, the hours, and the client, and any hiring decision is made there.
You're a Good Fit If You
- A graduate degree in materials science or a related field, with research or industrial experience
- Clear written communication, since most of the work involves explaining your reasoning
- Comfort with ambiguous tasks, and willingness to flag unclear instructions
- Where you trained matters less than whether you processed and characterized the material yourself, recently enough to explain the calls you made.
Role Highlights
Pay & Payout
Independent contractor engagement. Apply via the link below - Mercor handles onboarding and pays weekly via Stripe or Wise.
Common Questions
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