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Biology & Biophysics Research Collaborator (Part-time)

Mercor • Remote

Education

PhD

Type

Hourly

Pay Rate

$80–$110/hr

Listed

84d ago

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What We Know About This Role

Weekly hours
0–20 hrs/week

About this role

From the Mercor listing

We are recruiting a select cohort of accomplished biology and biophysics researchers to contribute to the next generation of AI systems for scientific reasoning. Our partner labs are building models that need to reason about molecular biology, biophysics, structural biology, immunology, neuroscience, genomics, and adjacent disciplines at the level of a working researcher — not a textbook. To get there, they need contributors whose own research sits at the frontier.

This position will be placed at a leading AI lab as part of their extended workforce.

What you'll do

  • Review and evaluate research papers in biology and biophysics for rigor, novelty, and scientific validity

  • Author and review challenging biology/biophysics problems used to train and evaluate frontier AI models

  • Evaluate model outputs on tasks ranging from mechanism prediction to experimental design to literature interpretation

  • Surface areas where current models fail — especially the kinds of mistakes a working PhD would catch immediately

  • Collaborate with a small program team and other senior contributors

Qualifications

We're looking for researchers who meet several of the following:

  • First-author or co-first-author publications in journals such as Nature, Science, Cell, PNAS, eLife, NEJM, Nature Methods, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, or Nature Communications

  • A doctorate or postdoctoral training from a top-20 global institution in the life sciences or a related STEM field

  • A competitive fellowship, such as an HHMI fellowship (including EXROP, Hanna H. Gray, or Investigator), an NIH F31/F32/K99, an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship or Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, or a Damon Runyon, Helen Hay Whitney, Jane Coffin Childs, Searle, Pew, Sloan, Packard, Simons, or Fulbright award

  • Issued patents, a spin-out company, or grants held as a named Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator

  • Current or recent experience in an active research role, as a PhD candidate, postdoctoral researcher, instructor, faculty member, principal scientist, or industry researcher

Outstanding senior PhD students and recent graduates with strong publication records are strongly encouraged to apply; the depth of your research output matters more than years of experience.

Engagement

  • Part-time: up to 20 hours per week

  • Compensation reflects research seniority and credentials

About Cincinnatus LLC

Cincinnatus LLC is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for contingent and contract-based opportunities. Cincinnatus LLC serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W-2 employment, payroll, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high-impact initiatives.

Cincinnatus LLC is a legal entity separate from Mercor. While opportunities may be discovered through Mercor's platform, employment, onboarding, payroll, and benefits for these roles are administered by Cincinnatus LLC.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Cincinnatus LLC is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Cincinnatus LLC is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans throughout the job application process.

How long hiring takes

Across the AI training platforms we refer candidates to, the median gap between referral and hire is about 30 days. It varies by platform and role, so treat it as a rough guide for this one.

Within 2 weeks
~25%
Within 6 weeks
~60%
Within 3 months
~80%

Talent Pool members

Apply through this link and we can put you forward to Mercor when your profile is a strong match. Not every applicant is submitted. If you're not in the pool yet, set up your profile first.

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Why this role

This Biology & Biophysics Research Collaborator (Part-time) role pays $80–$110/hr like specialized consulting, minus the client overhead. You set the hours, and the assignments draw directly on your STEM background.

Talent pool

We're light on STEM candidates

We've matched 65 people with a STEM background against 726 STEM listings we've tracked, so most go out without one. Set up a profile and we'll consider you for a role like this one.

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Common questions

Does Mercor's application require an on-camera interview?

Yes, every applicant records a video interview with an AI interviewer that asks questions about your resume. Clients review that recording to judge communication skills before matching, so there's no way to apply without going on camera.

Does it cost money to apply to Mercor?

No, applying and joining Mercor is free. Mercor's revenue comes from a fee it charges the client on top of your hourly rate, not from applicants. Treat any request for payment to join as a red flag.

What does the day-to-day workload look like for elite-expert AI training roles?

Slow and deep, not fast and repetitive. A single task can take 45-60 minutes of researching citations or verifying complex calculations. Quality is what's being measured here, not throughput.

Is AI training work the same as traditional consulting?

No. Instead of client deliverables, you're given complex scenarios to evaluate: grading the AI's logic, correcting its hallucinations, and supplying expert-level reasoning it doesn't have on its own. The job is closer to teaching than consulting.

What does STEM work look like for a Biology & Biophysics Research Collaborator (Part-time)?

Tasks here are scoped to STEM, not generic labeling. As a Biology & Biophysics Research Collaborator (Part-time), expect to draw on real domain judgment (evaluating outputs, correcting errors, or providing expert reasoning specific to STEM) rather than following a one-size-fits-all rubric. If you don't have hands-on STEM background, this is likely not the right listing to start with.

What specific skills does this listing call for?

Expert is named directly in the listing. If you don't have hands-on experience with this, expect the screening process to test for it directly rather than accepting adjacent experience as a substitute.

How many hours per week does this role require?

Based on the listing, this role is scoped at about 20 hours per week. Treat this as a real commitment expectation, not a loose estimate.

How much does this specific role pay?

This listing is posted at $80–$110/hr, an hourly rate. The range reflects experience level and negotiated terms, not a placeholder, so where you land in it depends on your background and the assessment. Pay can change between when we last checked the listing and when you apply, so confirm the current number on the platform's own application page before committing time.

What happens when I click Apply on this listing?

You'll be taken to Mercor's external site to complete your application there. This listing links through a referral, but the process is identical to applying directly; the link just routes you correctly. Create an account on their site and follow their onboarding steps.

Is a PhD required?

For this specific role, yes, or near-equivalent professional depth. The credential gate is enforced at the assessment stage, not just on paper. That said, active PhD candidates and people with equivalent published research have qualified without a formal degree. The assessment is the real filter.

How soon will I start working after applying to Mercor?

Not immediately. Mercor is a talent marketplace, not a task queue, so applying puts you in a pool of candidates. You start working only once a specific client, like a major AI lab, selects your profile, and that matching process can take weeks.