Scientific Researcher (Computational Task Author)
Role Overview
Author research-grade AI evaluation tasks from your own computational work.
Open to PhD students, postdocs, research scientists, and research-active Master's students.
AfterQuery is building a network of researchers to author and validate research-grade scientific-computing tasks for AI models.
A strong task is a real piece of computational work from your own research, something you've actually run, debugged, or been paid to do: simulation setup, numerical solvers, model fitting, data reduction, analysis pipelines, or inverse problems.
Each task has a main problem, a few connected subproblems, a reference solution, and tests that check the scientific result.
The difficulty should come from the science itself, not from withheld information.
We're especially looking for researchers in: bioinformatics and computational biology; quantum physics and computational astrophysics; materials science and molecular/quantum chemistry (including electronic structure, polymers and soft matter, chemical kinetics and spectroscopy); condensed-matter and statistical physics; particle and plasma physics; and geochemistry, remote sensing, oceanography, and coastal modeling.
Key Skills for This Role
Full Job Posting
Job Description
Author research-grade AI evaluation tasks from your own computational work. Open to PhD students, postdocs, research scientists, and research-active Master's students.
AfterQuery is building a network of researchers to author and validate research-grade scientific-computing tasks for AI models.
A strong task is a real piece of computational work from your own research, something you've actually run, debugged, or been paid to do: simulation setup, numerical solvers, model fitting, data reduction, analysis pipelines, or inverse problems. Each task has a main problem, a few connected subproblems, a reference solution, and tests that check the scientific result. The difficulty should come from the science itself, not from withheld information.
We're especially looking for researchers in: bioinformatics and computational biology; quantum physics and computational astrophysics; materials science and molecular/quantum chemistry (including electronic structure, polymers and soft matter, chemical kinetics and spectroscopy); condensed-matter and statistical physics; particle and plasma physics; and geochemistry, remote sensing, oceanography, and coastal modeling.
Requirements
- Education: Currently pursuing or holding a PhD with active hands-on research, or a Master's (current or completed) with a research-active record: thesis research, an RA or lab role, a publication, or a clear PhD trajectory.
- Technical: Working proficiency in Python, enough to run and debug your own computational work.
Contract and pay
Flexible, independent-contractor work: $125 per approved task, about 2 hours each, with no cap on how many tasks you take on. Tasks go through review, and you may also review other experts' tasks against a short rubric.
All accepted experts undergo standard background and identity verification.
Why Apply
Work on your own schedule: task-based, not a fixed hourly commitment
Contribute directly to how AI models are evaluated on real, expert-level scientific work
Paid, flexible work: $125 per approved task (about 2 hours each), no cap on how many you take on
Responsibilities
- Design and author original research-grade evaluation tasks based on your own computational work
- Specify the metrics a strong solution should be judged by, without publishing the exact passing thresholds
- Revise tasks based on structured review feedback until they're approved
- Optionally review and calibrate tasks submitted by other experts in your domain
Required Qualifications
- Currently pursuing or holding a PhD with active hands-on research, or a Master's with a research-active record: thesis-based enrollment, an RA or lab role, a real publication, or a clear PhD trajectory
- Working proficiency in Python, enough to run and debug your own computational work
- Able to turn your own computational research work into a well-specified evaluation task
- Able to work independently and manage your own time. This is flexible, task-based work with no fixed weekly schedule
Preferred Qualifications
- Current PhD student, postdoc, or faculty actively publishing in your field
- Demonstrated experience in scientific computing, data analysis, simulation, or numerical methods
- Prior experience in data annotation, data labeling, or AI/ML evaluation work
About AfterQuery
AfterQuery is a research lab investigating the boundaries of artificial intelligence through novel datasets and experimentation. We believe great AI comes from exceptional, human-generated data.
We're backed by top investors, including Y Combinator and Box Group, and support all leading AI labs.
Apply today to contribute to pushing the frontier of AI.
About AfterQuery
AfterQuery is an AI applied research lab serving frontier model developers with training data and evaluation systems.
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