Inorganic Chemistry & Synthesis Expert

Mercor is seeking experienced Inorganic Chemistry and Materials Synthesis Experts to contribute to advanced AI research initiatives. In this role, you will leverage your expertise in inorganic chemistry, synthetic methodologies, and materials characterisation to evaluate complex scientific problems, assess technical accuracy, and support the development of AI systems capable of advanced scientific reasoning. This opportunity is ideal for PhD-level researchers, materials scientists, and industry professionals with hands-on experience designing, synthesising, and characterising inorganic materials.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluate technically complex problems involving inorganic chemistry, solid-state chemistry, and materials synthesis.

• Review and validate AI-generated scientific explanations, synthesis pathways, and experimental methodologies.

• Assess reaction mechanisms, precursor selection, reaction conditions, phase formation, and materials stability.

• Develop scientifically rigorous reference answers, technical evaluations, and reasoning frameworks.

• Identify inaccuracies in chemical reasoning, proposed synthetic routes, and interpretations of experimental results.

• Apply knowledge of analytical and characterisation techniques such as XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, and thermal analysis.

• Collaborate with research teams to improve the scientific accuracy and reliability of advanced AI models.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, Solid-State Chemistry, Materials Science, or a closely related discipline. Exceptional MSc candidates with extensive research experience may be considered.

• Demonstrated experience in inorganic synthesis, solid-state reactions, solution-phase synthesis, hydrothermal/solvothermal methods, or related techniques.

• Strong understanding of crystallography, phase diagrams, chemical bonding, thermodynamics, and reaction kinetics.

• Experience interpreting experimental characterisation data and assessing scientific literature.

• Strong scientific writing, analytical reasoning, and communication skills.

• Ability to independently evaluate complex scientific problems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Research experience involving catalysts, metal oxides, ceramics, semiconductors, coordination compounds, or functional inorganic materials.

• Peer-reviewed publications or patents in inorganic chemistry or materials synthesis.

• Experience bridging experimental chemistry with computational materials science.

• Prior experience evaluating scientific datasets, technical benchmarks, or AI-generated research outputs.

Engagement Details

• Commitment: Minimum 10 hours per week, with potential for up to 40 hours per week.

Why Join Mercor?

• Apply specialised scientific expertise to cutting-edge AI research.

• Contribute to improving how advanced AI systems understand chemistry and materials science.

• Collaborate on intellectually challenging scientific problems.

We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request.

Contract and Payment Terms

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• This is a fully remote role that can be completed on your own schedule.
• Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
• Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
• Please note: We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.

About Mercor

Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier models using human expertise. You will work on projects that focus on training and enhancing AI systems. You will be paid competitively, collaborate with leading researchers, and help shape the next generation of AI systems in your area of expertise.