---
title: 'Postdoctoral Fellow, Open Call at Basis Research Institute'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/postdoctoral-fellow-open-call-basis-research-institute-new-york-gpaxsvg2kqhc'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Postdoctoral Fellow, Open Call at Basis Research Institute

- **Company:** Basis Research Institute
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2025-05-23
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/basis-research/9a4b0c2f-9649-494a-9830-ce88372a65d2

## Job description

## About the Fellowship

[Postdoctoral Fellowships at Basis](https://www.basis.ai/join-us/fellowships/) offer an immersive research environment for highly qualified researchers to deepen their expertise in computational theories of intelligence, including but not limited to reasoning, learning, and decision-making. Fellows will work closely with Basis Research Scientists and partnering Principal Investigators (PIs) from academic institutions.

## About Basis

[Basis](https://www.basis.ai) is a nonprofit applied AI research organization with two mutually reinforcing goals. The first is to understand and build intelligence. This means to establish the mathematical principles of what it means to reason, to learn, to make decisions, to understand, and to explain; and to construct software that implements these principles. The second is to advance society’s ability to solve intractable problems. This means expanding the scale, complexity, and breadth of problems that we can solve today, and even more importantly, accelerating our ability to solve problems in the future. To achieve these goals, we’re building both a new technological foundation that draws inspiration from how humans reason, and a new kind of collaborative organization that puts human values first.

How it works

- Basis Postdoctoral Fellows are jointly mentored and funded by Basis and partner PIs at academic institutions. Fellows split their time between Basis and the academic PI’s lab, functioning like a jointly advised postdoctoral position.
- Established partner PIs include: [Nada Amin](https://namin.seas.harvard.edu/) (Harvard), [Kevin Ellis](https://www.cs.cornell.edu/~ellisk/) (Cornell), [Armando Solar-Lezama](https://people.csail.mit.edu/asolar/) (MIT), [Youssef Marzouk](https://uqgroup.mit.edu/people) (MIT), and [Tom Silver](https://tomsilver.github.io/) (Princeton).
- Each Fellow is paired with a Basis mentor selected to align with the Fellow’s research program and goals.
- Possible Basis mentors include: [Emily Mackevicius](https://emackev.github.io/), [Zenna Tavares](http://www.zenna.org/), [Eli Bingham](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0uUoiCIAAAAJ&hl=en), [Matt Levine](https://mattlevine.netlify.app/), and others.
- This structure offers a distinctive research environment that blends the strengths of academia and industry. Fellows have the autonomy to shape their own research agendas while benefiting from mentorship, collaboration, and resources from both settings.
- There are two pathways into the Fellowship: joining an existing project or proposing a new research direction through our open call.
- Existing projects: Fellows are jointly employed with an established partner PI. Some roles have a single designated PI; others offer a choice from a curated shortlist. Open positions are listed on our job board.
- Open call: Applicants may propose a new research direction through the Open Call on our job board, and are encouraged to suggest potential PI mentors, (including academics not listed as established partner PIs). If selected, Fellows will work with Basis to establish a new academic collaboration.

Who we’re looking for

- Researchers holding a PhD in computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational neuroscience, cognitive science, or related fields.
- Individuals with a demonstrated track record in scientific research, evidenced through publications, technical reports, or impactful software projects.

Core Responsibilities

- Conduct independent and collaborative research within the thematic areas of Basis, focusing on computational theories of intelligence.
- Disseminate research findings through academic publications and presentations at leading conferences.
- Actively engage in knowledge transfer within Basis and with external partners, converting research into actionable insights and algorithms.
- Provide mentorship to junior team members and contribute to the scientific discourse at Basis through seminars, workshops, and collaborative projects.

## Role Details

- Full-time: This fellowship is full-time and has a fixed duration of 1 to 2 years.
- Location: Limited to the New York City and Boston areas; this is an in-person position.
- Salary: Competitive with leading postdoctoral fellowships.
- Start date: Applications reviewed on a rolling Basis. Immediate start possible.

Application Components Please submit the following:

- A cover letter (no more than 2 pages) that includes:
- A brief description of your PhD research and past accomplishments
- A list of at least three potential PI mentors outside of Basis. If you have a relationship with them or have already discussed the proposed work with them, please let us know.
- Your CV
- A research proposal (no more than 3 pages, not including references) outlining plans for research to be performed.

FAQs

How is this fellowship different from a Research Scientist position at Basis?

- Differences
- Duration: The fellowship is time-limited, usually spanning 1 to 2 years, unlike the Research Scientist roles which are permanent positions.
- Academic Collaboration: Fellows will have co-mentorship from academic PIs.
- Emphasis on Publication: Fellows are expected to publish their research, aligning more closely with traditional academic roles.
- Similarities
- Contributions to Core Technology: Like Research Scientists, fellows are expected to contribute code to Basis core technology. Basis will support Postdoctoral scientists without extensive software engineering experience to develop these skills.
- Research Funds: Fellows will have access to an annual allocation of research funds ($5,000) to be used for research expenses, skill development, conference attendance, and more.
- Integration with the Basis community: Fellows will participate in Basis events, on-sites, and other activities, and may collaborate on other Basis projects.

What happens after the fellowship?

- Postdoctoral Fellows may be offered a full-time Research Scientist position at Basis, contingent upon performance and organizational needs.

Do I need to propose a collaborator PI? Can I apply without one?

- We ask that you suggest three or more potential PIs you would be interested in working with in your cover letter. These might be people you’ve been in contact with before, or not. If you do have a relationship or have discussed your project ideas with them before, let us know. The eventual project collaborator is not required to come from this list.

Should I apply to the open call position, or to an established team position?

- Applicants may apply to both, if desired.
- Established team calls do not require submission of a Research Plan, as they are positioned within an existing Basis research area and are already internally and/or externally funded.
- Established team calls are likely to move faster, for the same reasons.

Non-Discrimination Notice Basis Research Institute provides equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or genetics and prohibits discrimination based on all protected characteristics.

Privacy Notice By submitting your application, you grant Basis permission to use your materials for both hiring evaluation and recruitment-related research and development purposes. Your information may be processed in different countries, including the US. You retain copyright while providing Basis a license to use these materials for the stated purposes. Read our full Global Data Privacy Notice [here](https://www.basis.ai/join-us/privacy-notice/).

## About Basis Research Institute

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Basis Research Institute is a nonprofit applied research organization advancing artificial intelligence through probabilistic modeling and causal inference to solve society's most intractable problems, building open-source software that draws inspiration from human reasoning.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Nonprofit 501(c)(3) Research Institute)
- **Headquarters**: New York City, New York, USA (with additional office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Zenna Tavares, Emily Mackevicius, and Eli Bingham

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Artificial Intelligence Research & Development
- **Target customers**: Municipal governments (via consulting), academic collaborators, for-profit companies (via contract work), and the broader open-source AI community
- **Mission**: Two mutually reinforcing goals: (1) advance basic scientific research in artificial intelligence to understand and build intelligence, and (2) help solve society’s intractable problems by expanding the scale, complexity, and breadth of problems that can be solved

## Products & Services
- **Core Technology Development**: Advanced probabilistic modeling and causal inference frameworks implemented as open-source software, including causal probabilistic programming languages
- **Applied Challenge Projects**:
  - **AI-Driven Robot Design**: Using AI to automate and accelerate robot design and control
  - **Dynamical Modeling for Biological Systems**: Modeling complex biological processes (e.g., neuroscience, cellular dynamics)
  - **Participatory City Modeling**: Consulting with municipal governments to model urban systems and support data-driven policy decisions
  - **Modeling, Abstraction, and Reasoning Agent (MARA)**: A research project focused on building AI agents capable of abstract reasoning and world modeling
- **Postdoctoral Fellowship Program**: A fellowship for early-career scientists to direct their own research within Basis’s mission
- **Open-Source Software Releases**: Publishing research tools and libraries for the broader AI community

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not applicable (nonprofit research organization)
- **Key Metric**: Funded through a combination of research grants, private philanthropy, and contract work with partners; specific funding amounts are not publicly disclosed
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Supported by an advisory board including Armando Solar-Lezama (MIT), Joshua Tenenbaum (MIT), Kevin Ellis (Cornell), Anthony Philippakis (Broad Institute), and Rui Costa (Columbia University). Collaborates with academic institutions (MIT, Columbia, Cornell, NYU) and municipal governments
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount has grown 41.7% year-over-year (LinkedIn data); active job postings increased 107.1% year-over-year; expanding into London with a GTM Lead role; 29 active job openings as of mid-2026

## Competitive Advantages
- **Nonprofit Structure**: Unlike for-profit AI labs, Basis is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, enabling it to prioritize open-source, public-good research over commercial outcomes
- **Unique Research Cycle**: A structured cycle between core technology development and applied challenge projects, where insights from real-world problems feed back into foundational research
- **Interdisciplinary Approach**: Combines insights from cognitive science (human reasoning), computer science (probabilistic programming), and domain expertise (biology, urban planning, robotics)
- **High-Profile Advisory Board**: Advisors from leading institutions (MIT, Cornell, Broad Institute, Columbia) provide deep academic and scientific credibility
- **Open-Source Commitment**: All software is released as open-source, building community trust and enabling broad adoption

## Strategic Focus
- **Core AI Foundations**: Advancing probabilistic modeling, causal inference, program synthesis, neuro-symbolic methods, reinforcement learning, and world models
- **Challenge-Driven Research**: Using applied projects (robotics, biology, city modeling) to identify shared bottlenecks that guide further methodological research
- **Collaborative Expansion**: Actively seeking partnerships with academia, government, social sector, and industry to tackle high-impact problems
- **Geographic Growth**: Opening presence in London (UK/EU GTM) and expanding roles in Ithaca, NY, while maintaining NYC and Cambridge hubs
- **Open-Source Ecosystem**: Building durable foundations that enable other researchers and practitioners to build upon Basis’s work

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-Driven Culture**: Employees work on problems that matter beyond publications, with impact on AI science and real-world societal challenges
- **Autonomy and Growth**: Organizational structure allows employees to see their autonomy and responsibilities grow with their projects, distinct from traditional career ladders
- **Collaborative Environment**: Work alongside researchers from top institutions (MIT, Columbia, Cornell) and domain experts from academia, government, and industry
- **Open-Source Impact**: Ship high-quality open-source software used by thousands, contributing to the broader AI community
- **Locations**: Offices in NYC (primary) and Cambridge, MA, with remote flexibility for some roles; London expansion underway
- **Notable Perks**: Postdoctoral fellowships available for early-career scientists; focus on human values and collaborative organization
- **Engineering Culture**: Emphasis on building durable foundations, shipping production-quality code, and working at the intersection of research and engineering

## Sources
1. [basis.ai/about](https://www.basis.ai/about/)
2. [basis.ai](https://www.basis.ai/)
3. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/basis-research](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/basis-research)
4. [basis.ai/join-us](https://www.basis.ai/join-us/)
5. [LinkedIn - Basis Research Institute](https://www.linkedin.com/company/basis-ri)

## Other roles at Basis Research Institute

- [Research Operations Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/research-operations-manager-basis-research-institute-new-york-95tarn9pj8tz) — New York, NY
- [GTM Lead, UK/EU & US](https://feeny.ai/job/gtm-lead-uk-eu-us-basis-research-institute-london-b9sq0m016y20) — London, United Kingdom
- [Hardware Systems & Lab Engineer, Robotics & Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-systems-lab-engineer-robotics-operations-basis-research-institute-new-g6a4cmtj6jzd) — New York, NY
- [Data Engineer, Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/data-engineer-platform-basis-research-institute-new-york-z7jf6pnk7yr3) — New York, NY
- [ML Systems Engineer, Infrastructure & Cloud](https://feeny.ai/job/ml-systems-engineer-infrastructure-cloud-basis-research-institute-new-york-fmkf7rgb6w6r) — New York, NY
- [Research Engineer, Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/research-engineer-operations-basis-research-institute-new-york-55vvr38p29sn) — New York, NY
- [Research Engineer, Platform](https://feeny.ai/job/research-engineer-platform-basis-research-institute-new-york-3sep3r6cksy6) — New York, NY
- [Research Scientist, Program Synthesis & Neuro-symbolic Methods](https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-program-synthesis-neuro-symbolic-methods-basis-research-yw82mzv4975d) — New York, NY
- [Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning](https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-reinforcement-learning-basis-research-institute-new-york-gprjb8ja06q7) — New York, NY
- [Research Scientist, World Models](https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-world-models-basis-research-institute-new-york-xwd9d07xy13d) — New York, NY