Inorganic Chemistry & Synthesis Expert

What you'll do

This is the experimentalist's counterpart to Mercor's computational materials listings. An AI model proposes synthesis pathways, explains reaction outcomes and interprets characterisation data; you decide whether a working inorganic chemist would trust any of it.

The ad points the review at the places where generated chemistry tends to fall apart:

• Precursor selection and reaction conditions that would not give the claimed product
• Phase formation and stability claims that ignore the phase diagram or kinetics
• Reaction mechanisms argued with the wrong bonding picture
• Readings of XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, FTIR, Raman or thermal analysis data that over-claim what the pattern shows

You also write reference answers, technical evaluations and reasoning frameworks, which in practice means explaining not just that a hydrothermal route is wrong but why, and what a competent chemist would have tried instead. Work is done with research teams at the client side, per the ad, though the client is not named.

Who fits

• A PhD in inorganic, materials or solid-state chemistry, materials science or a close discipline; an exceptional MSc with extensive research experience may be considered
• Hands-on synthesis: solid-state reactions, solution-phase routes, hydrothermal or solvothermal methods, or similar
• Fluency with crystallography, phase diagrams, chemical bonding, thermodynamics and kinetics
• Experience reading characterisation data and the literature critically
• Strong scientific writing and the ability to work through hard problems alone

Preferred: research on catalysts, metal oxides, ceramics, semiconductors, coordination compounds or functional inorganic materials; publications or patents; some exposure to computational materials science; and prior evaluation of scientific datasets, benchmarks or AI-generated research output.

What it pays and the commitment

$84 per hour flat, Mercor's published figure, for a minimum of 10 hours a week with potential for up to 40. Payment is weekly via Stripe or Wise. H-1B and STEM OPT candidates cannot be supported.

The rate matches the computational sibling posted the same day, Atomistic Materials Modeling Expert, and the older US-only Inorganic Materials, Semiconductor & Superconductor Experts listing.

Worth knowing

Good:

• Bench experience is the core qualification, which is rarer in AI evaluation work than computational skills
• No residence requirement is published on this listing
• A 10-hour weekly floor fits around a lab job
• Payment terms are stated up front

Less good:

• $84 flat with no published range or progression
• PhD-level bar; the MSc path is described as exceptional
• H-1B and STEM OPT holders are excluded
• Independent contractor, and projects can be extended, shortened or ended early

About this listing

Posted by Mercor as a remote hourly contract and read from the live listing on 12 October 2026, marked as a new opportunity. Requirements, pay and hours are the ad's own; no duration or client is published. See Mercor.