Research Scientist, All-Optical Working Memory
$80,000–$150,000 year
On-siteEmeryville, California, United States
Job Summary
Design and iterate head-fixed mouse working-memory tasks to achieve reliable animal performance. Run two-photon holographic photostimulation experiments to read population activity and perturb held representations at single-cell resolution. Perform mouse survival surgery including stereotaxic viral injection, chronic cranial-window implantation, and headbar installation under IACUC-approved protocols. Lead computational analysis of large-scale neural data using dimensionality reduction, population decoding, and GLMs. Set viral and transgenic expression strategies for soma-targeted opsins. Mentor research associates and technicians while contributing to publications, open data releases, and tooling development.
Required Qualifications
- PhD in neuroscience, bioengineering, physics, or a related field, or equivalent research experience
- Hands-on mouse survival surgery experience, including chronic cranial windows, headbars, and stereotaxic injections
- Conviction that the brain's internal model can be understood in full, and recognition that getting there requires a kind of science no single academic lab can do
- Willingness to be held to an engineering standard
- Comfort building on shared infrastructure rather than private projects
- Commitment to open science
Desired Qualifications
- Hands-on experience with in vivo two-photon calcium imaging and/or holographic (SLM-based) optogenetics in rodents
- Practical experience with two-photon systems: optical alignment, system characterization, and in vivo use
- Proficiency in scientific computing for neural-data analysis: Python and/or MATLAB, with Suite2p, CaImAn, or comparable pipelines
- Experience with head-fixed rodent behavior and task design, including closed-loop and real-time experiments
- Prior systems neuroscience research in cortex, working memory, decision-making, or motor/premotor circuits
- Experience with ultrafast pulsed lasers (Ti:Sapphire, fiber) and nonlinear optics
- Two-photon optogenetics (SLM-based holography, temporal focusing, or spiral-scanning photostimulation), including soma-targeted opsins such as ChRmine
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