---
title: 'Research Scientist at Astera Institute'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-astera-institute-alameda-3ps9rfrday5d'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-22'
---

# Research Scientist at Astera Institute

- **Company:** Astera Institute
- **Location:** Alameda, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-16
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-22
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/astera/b8ec96a5-ca02-449c-b35c-3f775ac6b324

## Job description

Company Overview Astera Neuro seeks to understand and engineer consciousness. We believe consciousness is the process by which the brain builds a coherent internal model of the world and the self. We aim to understand this model and to develop the technologies to write experience directly into the brain. By combining large-scale neural recording, causal perturbation, and brain-based AI, we seek to move neuroscience from observing correlates of experience to engineering it. The same tools carry direct therapeutic promise for neurological and psychiatric diseases that alter perception, thought, and sense of self. Because the science and tools required do not yet exist, we are assembling a founding team of neuroscientists, theorists, and engineers to create them. We do high-risk, high-reward science in a well-resourced, collaborative environment with competitive pay, and share everything openly under Astera's Open Science Policy.

Position Summary 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 enough understanding and technical ability to precisely and reversibly modulate each of these functions through write-in experiments. The role requires both the ability to independently drive a research program from start to finish and to collaborate closely with a diverse team of scientists to collect novel datasets that can transform our understanding of the neurobiology of intelligence and consciousness. Experimental work combines large-scale neural recordings, targeted stimulation, and behavioral design, working closely with computational, engineering, and software teams to translate biological insight into a detailed model of the brain that can guide causal perturbation experiments and inform new AI architectures. Title and scope are calibrated to track record. Successful applicants will focus on one or more of Astera Neuro’s primary research tracks. Background and interest will help determine the best fit among programs aimed at discovering how the primate brain builds a stable model of the physical world, how it generates a model of its own physical and mental states and plans, and how it combines abstract representations of thoughts into new configurations to support complex, flexible behavior.

## What You’ll Do

- 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.

## Who You Are

Required

- 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.

## What We Value

- Conviction that the brain’s internal model can be understood in full, and agreement that getting there requires a kind of science no single academic lab can do; we’re betting on scale, deep collaboration across science and engineering, and open sharing of ideas in a full-stack environment.
- Willingness to be held to an engineering standard. Our decisive tests are write-in experiments: constructing a specific percept, thought, or internal state, not merely decoding. What we cannot build, we do not understand.
- Comfort building on shared infrastructure rather than private projects. Recordings and perturbations will be registered onto a common whole-brain functional and anatomical atlas, and datasets are designed to stitch across sessions, animals, and paradigms.
- Care for the animals: the wellbeing of the animals we study, supported by dedicated veterinary and behavioral care staff, is the foundation of both the science and its credibility.
- Commitment to open science. We will release tools, data, and methods, and aim to create a new dynamic of rapid, open exchange in neuroscience.

Additionally Expected at Senior / Principal Level

- Experience contributing to or leading large, multi-team programs (academic centers, institutes, foundations, or industry research labs).
- Track record of mentorship and technical leadership.

## Why Join Us

Research Scientists at Astera Neuro, focused on answering the hardest and least understood questions in neuroscience: how the brain generates thoughts, intelligence, and consciousness. We seek to understand the neural representation of the compositional code that underlies primates’ remarkable ability to combine abstract thoughts into new configurations, and we view both reading out and writing in thoughts and ideas as central to that goal.

Astera Neuro provides a comprehensive benefits package and total compensation that is competitive and commensurate with the level of experience and qualifications. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and inclusion!

## About Astera Institute

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Astera Institute is a nonprofit organization that funds and conducts high-impact scientific research and engineering projects focused on neuroscience, artificial general intelligence (AGI), and open science to accelerate positive futures for humanity.
- **Entity Type**: Private nonprofit (501(c)(3) private foundation)
- **Headquarters**: Berkeley, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Jed McCaleb (also co-founder of Stellar Development Foundation and founder of Vast)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Research services, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, life sciences, grantmaking
- **Target customers**: Not applicable (nonprofit; serves the research community and the public through open science and foundational advances)
- **Mission / purpose**: Empower visionary, high-leverage science and technology projects with the capacity to create transformative progress for human civilization. Focus on areas like AGI, science, and climate that lack natural homes in the existing innovation ecosystem.

## Products & Services
Astera operates three main divisions (not commercial products):
- **Neuro & AGI**: Directed neuroscience and AI research effort to understand biological intelligence and engineer safe, successful general intelligence systems. [astera.org](https://astera.org/)
- **Radial**: Life sciences research division that funds and runs high-impact fundamental scientific challenges, testing new models for how science is conducted. [astera.org](https://astera.org/)
- **Foundation**: Centralized operational, financial support, and ecosystem-building for Neuro-AI, Science, and Strategic Investments. Also leads Residency and Fellowship programs. [astera.org](https://astera.org/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not applicable (nonprofit)
- **Key Metrics**: 
  - **Total assets** (2023): $2,003,858,714 [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/)
  - **Total expenses** (2023): $27,504,754 [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/)
  - **Investment income and dividends** (2023): $58,598,494 [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/)
  - **Headcount**: 55 employees (+63.4% YoY) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Funded primarily by founder Jed McCaleb (grants contributed $131M in 2022). Key leaders include Prachee Avasthi (Head of Open Science), Doris Tsao (Chief Scientist – Neuro), Seemay Chou (CEO – Radial), and Dileep George (Co-Founder, Neuro & AGI). [astera.org](https://astera.org/team/)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - 63.4% employee growth year-over-year (55 people) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
  - 23 active job postings (up 1050% YoY) [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
  - LinkedIn followers grew 128.9% yearly [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
  - Presence in Netherlands and United Kingdom [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Unique model**: Nonprofit foundation that internally incubates and directly funds high-risk, high-leverage research across neuroscience, AI, and life sciences — without the pressure of commercial returns.
- **Top-tier leadership**: Led by accomplished scientists (e.g., Doris Tsao, Dileep George) and experienced operators from organizations like Stellar, Google, and Arcadia Science. [astera.org](https://astera.org/team/)
- **Open science focus**: Strong commitment to open access research and new models for scientific collaboration, attracting talent who value transparency and impact.
- **Substantial capital base**: Over $2B in assets provides long-term runway for ambitious, multi-year projects.

## Strategic Focus
- Deepen understanding of biological intelligence through large-scale neural circuit analysis and causal manipulation (Neuro & AGI). [astera.org](https://astera.org/)
- Continue incubation of radical science projects via Radial, particularly in aging, biotech, and platforms. [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/)
- Expand the Residency and Fellowship programs to attract diverse scientific and engineering talent. [astera.org](https://astera.org/)
- Scale operations and hiring: current job postings span roles from vivarium operations manager to research scientists in energy-based models and distributed simulation systems. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/astera)

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven work**: Directly contribute to foundational research that could reshape humanity’s future with AGI and novel science.
- **Benefits**: Full-time W2 employees receive top-tier medical/dental/vision insurance, 403(b) retirement plans, long-term disability plan, health/dependent-care FSAs, and commuter pre-tax accounts. [astera.org](https://astera.org/careers/)
- **Culture**: Described as an equal opportunity employer committed to equity and inclusion, encouraging diverse applicants. Emphasis on open science, experimentation, and high-leverage impact. [astera.org](https://astera.org/careers/)
- **Work setup**: Headquarters in Berkeley, CA; also has staff in the Netherlands and UK. Specific remote/hybrid policy not disclosed but multiple job postings suggest flexible arrangements.
- **Team composition**: Highly technical and research-oriented (21 researchers, 10 technical staff, 6 medical). Staff previously from Google, Stanford, UCSF, Arcadia Science, Relay Therapeutics. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute)
- **Rapid growth**: 63% YoY headcount increase and 1050% growth in job postings signal an expanding organization with ample career opportunities.

## Sources
1. [astera.org](https://astera.org/) – Homepage and division descriptions
2. [astera.org](https://astera.org/team/) – Leadership team details
3. [astera.org](https://astera.org/careers/) – Benefits and culture
4. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/astera-institute) – Company page with headcount, growth, job postings, and talent sources
5. [causeiq.com](https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/astera-institute,845162617/) – Financials (990-PF: revenues, expenses, assets, program areas)
6. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/astera) – Active open positions list

## Other roles at Astera Institute

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- [Open Science Policy and Operations Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/open-science-policy-and-operations-manager-astera-institute-emeryville-e9favr4btbyy) — Emeryville, CA
- [Probe Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/probe-engineer-astera-institute-alameda-v8cj3qr564xq) — Alameda, CA
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