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Research Scientist: Hierarchical Sensorimotor Perception

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

About the role

Role focused on developing foundational principles of Artificial General Intelligence by bridging biological intelligence, computational theory, and scalable systems.

Responsibilities

  • Fundamental Research on Hierarchical Perception: Develop and implement new bi-directional/recurrent architectures for hierarchical perception. These models are expected to provide flexible querying, dynamically variable levels of abstraction, and representations that support planning/reasoning.
  • Evaluation and Benchmarks: Design experiments to test and benchmark against existing architectures for out-of-distribution generalization.
  • 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 (or exceptional candidates with non-traditional educational histories)
  • 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 the "big questions" of AI—robustness, generalization, and common-sense reasoning
  • Genuine passion for exploring the computational and architectural principles of the mammalian brain
  • Ability to thrive in a lean, fast-paced environment with high autonomy and influence on research direction

Skills

Required:Hierarchical perception modelingDeep learningProgramming in PyTorch/JAXExperimental design and benchmarkingCross-disciplinary collaboration

Benefits

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

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