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Research Scientist

Astera Institute· Neuro
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Alameda$120k - $220kFull-timePosted 2mo ago

About the role

Research Scientists at Astera Neuro develop and lead research programs aimed at understanding how the brain builds a model of the physical world, forms new thoughts, and creates a stable model of the self. The goal is to precisely and reversibly modulate these functions through write-in experiments, collaborating across neuroscience, engineering, and software teams.

Responsibilities

  • Design behavioral paradigms (perceptual and cognitive tasks) aligned with the lab’s scientific goals.
  • Design and execute large-scale, multi-area neural recording experiments in awake, behaving subjects performing complex perceptual, working-memory, and higher-cognitive tasks, using high-density Neuropixels probes, chronic polymer probe arrays, two-photon imaging, and holographic optogenetics.
  • Design and execute write-in (causal perturbation) experiments targeting visual percepts, thoughts, and internal states using model-guided closed-loop stimulation.
  • Build and analyze datasets that stitch across sessions, animals, and paradigms to support stable, brain-wide, single-neuron-resolution representations.
  • Collaborate across electrophysiology, holography, computational, and engineering teams to keep recording, perturbation, and modeling tightly coupled.
  • Mentor research technicians and, at the senior or principal level, more junior scientists; contribute to hiring, onboarding, and lab culture.
  • Contribute to publications, talks, open data and tooling releases, and engagement with the broader scientific community.

Qualifications

  • PhD with 5-12+ years of experience in neuroscience, cognitive, behavioral, or medical sciences, biology, biomedical engineering, or a related field, or equivalent research experience.
  • Hands-on experience with chronic, multi-area, large-scale electrophysiology in awake, behaving animals performing complex cognitive paradigms, including high-density Neuropixels recordings and chronic polymer probe systems.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead a systems neuroscience project end to end, from hypothesis and paradigm design through rig development, data collection, analysis, and publication.
  • Strong quantitative and computational skills, with fluency in Python and/or MATLAB, modern spike sorting and quality-control pipelines, and analysis of high-dimensional population data.
  • Ability to work at close quarters with software engineers, hardware engineers, and computational neuroscientists in a fast-moving, multi-team environment.
  • Experience with optogenetic, electrical, or other causal perturbation methods across multiple animal models.
  • Experience with closed-loop or real-time experimental control and stimulation.
  • Familiarity with neural population dynamics and dynamical-systems modeling.

Skills

Required:Behavioral paradigm designLarge-scale neural recordingNeuropixels and chronic probe usageClosed-loop stimulationData integration across sessions/subjectsCollaborative cross-disciplinary work
Nice to have:Mentorship and leadership
Last updated Sep 16, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

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