Materials Science Expert

What You'll Do7

• Create difficult technical problems from your area of materials science, embedding realistic constraints and supporting data.
• Provide the correct solution and explain the reasoning that leads to it.
• Define objective criteria for correctness so another expert would reach the same verdict.
• Review problems built by other contributors for technical accuracy and soundness of method.
• Flag problems that turn out to be ambiguous or ungradable instead of submitting them.
• Build problems where the textbook answer is not enough and the right approach depends on reading the constraints correctly.
• Identify plausible-looking solutions that are quietly wrong and define what separates them from correct answers.

Requirements6

• Master’s or PhD in materials science, metallurgy, ceramics, polymer science, condensed matter physics, or a closely related field.
• Principal, staff, or fellow-level experience in industrial or national lab research, or a faculty appointment at a leading university.
• Deep technical depth in at least one materials subdomain, with hands-on ownership of the work.
• Able to explain why an answer is correct clearly enough that another scientist could verify it.
• Experience designing technical problems with realistic constraints and supporting data.
• Ability to define objective criteria for correctness and apply them consistently.

Preferred Qualifications2

• Publications, patents, or a record of technical leadership.
• AI or LLM evaluation experience.

Who Should Apply

This role suits a materials scientist with a PhD or Master’s and principal-level industry, national lab, or faculty experience. You should have deep expertise in one subdomain and be able to explain your reasoning so another expert can verify it. If you enjoy building hard technical problems and defining what makes an answer correct, this is for you.

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