Bilingual Korean STEM Expert (PhD): AI Safety

What you'll do

South Korea has one of the most research-intensive economies in the world and a large domestic chemistry, biotech and semiconductor workforce, and Korean is a major language for AI products. That combination explains the rate: at $63–67 an hour, this is the third-best-paid role in Mercor's bilingual AI safety series, behind only Norwegian and Japanese STEM.

The tasks:

• Writing expert-level prompts in Korean on specialised scientific topics
• Evaluating and annotating model responses for scientific accuracy, helpfulness and appropriate handling of sensitive content
• Classifying prompts and conversations against structured guidelines

The science spans chemical, biological, and radiological and nuclear subjects. The core judgment is dual-use: distinguishing legitimate research, teaching and safety questions from requests for dangerous capability, and checking whether the model responds correctly to each in Korean, including where Korean scientific writing mixes Sino-Korean terms and English loanwords. You are testing safeguards, not producing harmful content.

No AI background is needed; Mercor trains you on the workflow.

Who qualifies

• A PhD in chemistry, biology or a closely related field, ongoing or completed
• Depth to write across chemical, biological, or radiological and nuclear subject areas
• Native or near-native Korean and business-level written English
• Deep familiarity with modern laboratory and computational techniques in your subfield
• Sound judgment on scientific safety and dual-use information

Preferred: a defined specialism (organic or inorganic synthesis, molecular biology, microbiology, virology, genetics and similar), radiological and nuclear expertise from chemistry (radiochemistry, nuclear chemistry, energetic materials, radiation physics), research or coursework on chemical security, biosafety or hazardous-materials handling, and experience reviewing, grading or red-teaming technical content.

South Korea or the wider East Asia region is preferred; applicants elsewhere, including Korean scientists abroad, are welcome.

What it pays

$63–67 per hour, Mercor's published figure. The Korean generalist role pays $48–52, so the PhD adds $15 an hour. Japanese STEM pays $68–72 and Norwegian STEM $77–81.

Payments are weekly via Stripe or Wise, based on services rendered.

Worth knowing

Good:

• Third-highest rate in the series
• PhD candidates are eligible
• Remote on your own hours, immediate start
• 6 hires this month when we checked

Less good:

• Hazardous-science topics are the substance of the work
• No stated weekly hours, project length or end client; projects can be extended, shortened or ended early
• Independent contractor, no benefits
• H-1B and STEM OPT candidates excluded
• Time-zone fit is not discussed; the work is described as self-scheduled, so it should not matter, but check if any calibration sessions are live

About this listing

Posted by Mercor as a part-time remote position, confirmed open on 24 September 2026. Pay, requirements, location preference and payment terms are the ad's own; the comparisons are ours. See Mercor.