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Research Scientist: Energy Based Models

Astera Institute· AI Research
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Hybrid (Emeryville HQ)$150k - $300kFull-timePosted 8mo ago

About the role

Seeking brilliant, unconventional thinkers to develop foundational principles of Artificial General Intelligence by researching energy-based, hierarchical latent variable models and bridging biological intelligence, computational theory, and scalable systems.

Responsibilities

  • Fundamental Research on Energy Based, Hierarchical Latent Variable Models: Develop and implement new architectures and learning/inference algorithms for neuroscience-inspired energy-based world models, with focus on representations that allow for parallel distributed planning.
  • Scientific Discovery: Design experiments to test hypotheses regarding high-level cognition, causal representations, sensory-motor integration, active inference, and unsupervised learning.
  • Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Work alongside neuroscientists and software engineers to translate abstract mathematical frameworks into scalable systems.
  • Contribute to Open Science: Help innovate new publication models that incentivize speedy dissemination, open source code releases, free open access, and impact measurements based on uptake.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Neuroscience, Physics, or a related quantitative field (exceptional candidates considered with non-traditional education).
  • Strong foundations in deep learning, graphical models, and information theory.
  • Expert-level skills in deep learning frameworks (PyTorch/JAX), with a focus on clean, reproducible research code.
  • Demonstrated interest in robustness, generalization, and common-sense reasoning (AGI mindset).
  • Genuine passion for exploring the computational and architectural principles of the mammalian brain.
  • Ability to thrive in a lean, fast-paced startup-like environment with high autonomy and influence on research direction.

Skills

Required:Energy Based ModelsGraphical ModelsDeep Learning Frameworks
Nice to have:Research in AI / AGI

Benefits

  • Benefits summary available (linked in posting)
Last updated Sep 23, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

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