Senior Physics Research Evaluator (Remote, US, Part-Time)

About OpenTrain

OpenTrain is the #1 platform for people building careers in AI training and data labeling. We help researchers and specialists find and manage AI training work in one place, build a lasting portfolio of applied research contributions, and grow a freelance career in the human side of AI development.

OpenTrain AI is the hiring and contracting organization for this role. Working with us means contributing directly to how cutting-edge models learn from expert human judgment while keeping a unified record of your training work and credentials.

Why AI Training Work Is Important

AI training (data labeling and human feedback) is how modern models learn to reason and behave. Experts prepare examples, design hard problems, and judge model outputs so systems improve in correctness, safety, and scientific fidelity.

For researchers, this work is remote, flexible, and directly influential: your domain expertise helps shape model behavior on real scientific reasoning tasks.

• 100% remote work that fits around research and teaching schedules
• Flexible, part-time projects that pay at rates reflecting domain expertise
• Hands-on impact: you’ll identify failure modes and improve model scientific reasoning

The Role

We are hiring physics research evaluators to review research papers, author and review challenging physics problems, and evaluate model outputs for frontier-level scientific reasoning. The work covers theoretical and experimental subfields including condensed matter, quantum information, particle and high-energy theory, astrophysics and cosmology, AMO and plasma physics, biophysics, statistical and computational physics, and mathematical physics.

Tasks emphasize deep reasoning and novelty assessment rather than textbook recall. You will work with a small program team and senior contributors to create high-quality evaluation data used to train and test advanced language models.

• Data type: research documents and problem sets
• Labeling tasks: evaluation ratings, question answering, and text-generation review
• Collaboration with a compact, expert-driven program team

What You'll Do

• Review research papers for correctness, novelty, and significance
• Author and review hard, research-level physics problems for AI evaluation
• Evaluate model outputs across derivations, mechanism prediction, numerical modeling, experimental design, and literature reasoning
• Identify subtle failure modes an experienced physicist would catch
• Provide clear written feedback and ratings that guide model improvements

Requirements

This is an expert-level role that requires an active research profile and demonstrable record of contribution to physics or a closely related STEM field.

• First-author or co-first-author publication record in physics or a related STEM field
• Doctoral or postdoctoral training preferred; senior PhD students and recent graduates with strong publication records are encouraged to apply
• Current or recent experience as a PhD candidate, postdoc, instructor, faculty member, principal scientist, or industry researcher
• Strong ability to assess correctness, novelty, and significance of research claims
• Familiarity with evaluating advanced physics problems and judging model reasoning outputs
• Fluency in English and eligibility to work remotely from the United States

Compensation & Schedule

This is a part-time contractor role. Compensation reflects research seniority and credentials.

Pay ranges from $80 to $110 per hour depending on experience and publication record; top rates are reserved for more senior research profiles.

• Typical commitment: around 20 hours per week (part-time, contractor)
• Payment type: hourly contractor compensation
• Work location: remote (United States only)

How It Works and How To Apply

Create an OpenTrain account, complete your profile with research publications and relevant credentials, and submit an application. Our team reviews applications for research fit and publication record, then invites qualified candidates to a short qualification exercise.

If selected, you will work as a contractor with mentoring from senior contributors and opportunities to contribute across multiple physics evaluation projects over time.

• Step 1: Sign up on OpenTrain and build your profile with publications and CV details
• Step 2: Apply to this role and complete any short qualification tasks requested
• Step 3: If accepted, begin part-time contractor work and collaborate with the program team