Remote | Research Physicist — $75–$130/hour
24-Mag•New York, NY
•Remote
About The Position
We are sharing a specialised part-time consulting opportunity for advanced physics researchers with expertise in solving, verifying, and adjudicating research-level problems across frontier areas of theoretical, computational, and experimental physics. This role supports the development of a research-level physics benchmark used to evaluate advanced AI systems. Selected researchers will produce fully verified reference solutions, audit submissions from other experts, decompose complex challenges into assessable checkpoints, and develop reproducible computational tools for symbolic and numerical evaluation.
Requirements
- A PhD, postdoctoral background, or comparable research experience in a relevant physics subfield
- Active research expertise in high-energy physics, mathematical physics, biophysics, statistical physics, condensed matter, atomic, molecular and optical physics, gravitation, cosmology, astrophysics, quantum information, or related areas
- Hands-on familiarity with at least two established methods used within their specialist field
- A publication record demonstrating recent research expertise
- Strong proficiency in mathematical derivation, computational verification, and scientific literature review
- Working knowledge of LaTeX, Python, Jupyter, and SymPy
- Excellent written English and meticulous attention to technical detail
- Availability to contribute approximately 10 hours per week over an 8–10 week task window
- A PhD in physics or a closely related discipline is highly relevant
- Senior PhD candidates may be considered for solver-level work
- Postdoctoral researchers or junior faculty may be suited to auditing responsibilities
- Senior postdoctoral researchers, professors, or industry research leaders may be considered for adjudication work
- Equivalent senior research experience supported by publications and demonstrable technical expertise may also be considered
Nice To Haves
- Three to five representative publications within the relevant physics subfield
- Recent publications supported by arXiv identifiers or DOIs
- Experience peer reviewing research papers, supervising graduate work, or assessing advanced technical solutions
- Expertise spanning multiple physics subdomains or canonical solution methods
- Experience developing computational physics benchmarks or automated grading systems
- Familiarity with symbolic computation and numerical validation
- Background creating research-level scientific problems or reference datasets
- Previous involvement in AI evaluation, benchmark design, or technical training-data projects
Responsibilities
- Solve advanced physics challenges from initial formulation through final verified result
- Produce rigorous derivations supported by calculations, code, and peer-reviewed references
- Apply appropriate analytical, numerical, and computational methods within the relevant subfield
- Validate assumptions, approximations, boundary conditions, and final conclusions
- Document solution methodology clearly enough for independent expert verification
- Author high-quality reference solutions for complex physics benchmark tasks
- Decompose research challenges into standalone checkpoint problems requiring genuine physical reasoning
- Define acceptable symbolic forms, numerical tolerances, and equivalent solution approaches
- Create verification test cases covering expected results and relevant edge conditions
- Ensure reference materials are technically complete, internally consistent, and reproducible
- Develop Python-based answer templates and automated grading functions
- Support symbolic and numerical answer checking using tools such as SymPy
- Build reproducible computational workflows in Jupyter
- Validate grading logic against equivalent expressions, numerical precision requirements, and alternative valid methods
- Identify unintended shortcuts or grading gaps that could weaken benchmark reliability
- Audit expert-submitted solutions for correctness, scope, and methodological soundness
- Identify derivation errors, unsupported assumptions, missing cases, and verification weaknesses
- Provide detailed, actionable feedback across revision cycles
- Compare parallel solution attempts and determine which should serve as the final reference
- Resolve disagreements involving methodology, interpretation, numerical results, or symbolic equivalence
Benefits
- Competitive hourly compensation
- Flexible scheduling
- Remote work
- Weekly payments
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Part-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
