---
title: 'Research Scientist, Multiregional Electrophysiology of Rodent Cognition at Astera Institute'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-multiregional-electrophysiology-of-rodent-cognition-astera-cqc9p1d3hhvq'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-15'
---

# Research Scientist, Multiregional Electrophysiology of Rodent Cognition at Astera Institute

- **Company:** Astera Institute
- **Location:** Alameda, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-25
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-15
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/astera/0b7ed96c-9a41-4027-8664-1c5ed6369ea9

## 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 We are seeking an experimental neuroscientist to join Astera Neuro's rodent neuroscience team and use large-scale neural recordings to investigate how the brain builds and uses an internal model of the world. You will help define the cognitive processes and behavioral paradigms that make this question experimentally tractable in mice. You will use high-density, multiregional electrophysiology to reveal how information is represented, transformed, and communicated across brain areas during cognition. By combining these recordings with precise optical perturbation, you will test the causal mechanisms that shape an animal's cognitive state and the contents of its internal model. This is an end-to-end experimental role spanning task design, surgery, Neuropixels recording, perturbation, and large-scale neural data analysis. Animal wellbeing is foundational to this work, supported by dedicated veterinary and behavioral care staff and rigorous welfare standards.

## What You'll Do

- Help define the cognitive processes and experimental questions we pursue in mice, and design and iterate head-fixed behavioral paradigms to probe them.
- Perform high-density, multiregional electrophysiology (Neuropixels), recording many single neurons across multiple brain areas simultaneously during behavior.
- Combine electrophysiology with two-photon imaging and holographic photostimulation, perturbing specific neural activity patterns while recording their consequences across brain areas.
- Lead the computational analysis of large-scale neural population data, including spike sorting, dimensionality reduction, population decoding, generalized linear models, and inter-areal circuit inference.
- Set the viral and transgenic expression strategy, including soma-targeted ChRmine and GCaMP for combined recording and manipulation.
- Perform mouse survival surgery: stereotaxic viral injection, headbar installation, chronic cranial-window implantation, and recording craniotomies and chronic implants.
- Mentor research associates and 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 0–4 years of experience in neuroscience, bioengineering, physics, or a related field, or equivalent research experience. We value demonstrated skill and relevant experience above credentials.
- Hands-on mouse survival surgery experience: stereotaxic injections, headbars, chronic cranial windows, and craniotomies.
- Hands-on experience with in vivo extracellular electrophysiology in awake, behaving rodents, including high-density silicon probes (Neuropixels).
- Proficiency in scientific computing for neural-data analysis, in Python and/or MATLAB, with Kilosort, SpikeGLX, or comparable pipelines.
- Experience training head-fixed rodents on behavioral tasks.

Preferred/Nice to Have:

- Experience combining electrophysiology with optical methods: two-photon calcium imaging, optogenetics, or SLM-based holographic photostimulation.
- Experience with multi-area or brain-wide recording and analyses of inter-areal interactions and effective connectivity.
- Prior systems neuroscience research on cognition, including working memory, decision-making, perception, or motor/premotor circuits.
- Familiarity with viral tools and transgenic mouse lines for targeted recording and manipulation, including soma-targeted opsins such as ChRmine.

## Why Join Us

Lead a program to record and causally probe the multiregional circuits of cognition, recording from many neurons across the brain at once while perturbing activity at single-cell resolution. You will help define the cognitive processes we pursue and build the experimental and analytical pipeline the program depends on. This work sits within Astera Neuro's larger effort to understand how the brain generates thought, intelligence, and internal state. Join Astera Neuro to advance our understanding of brain structure and function.

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

- [Talent Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/talent-engineer-astera-institute-emeryville-k0aeeh287nwx) — Emeryville, CA
- [Open Science Data Steward](https://feeny.ai/job/open-science-data-steward-astera-institute-emeryville-an38zx6jn5yj) — Emeryville, CA
- [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
- [Scientific Writer, Life Science (Radial)](https://feeny.ai/job/scientific-writer-life-science-radial-astera-institute-emeryville-fs8456g7v3fx) — Emeryville, CA
- [Principal AI Scientist (Polytope Bio)](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-ai-scientist-polytope-bio-astera-institute-remote-5wqeq3z45wdk)
- [Senior Research Associate or Scientist 1 (Polytope Bio)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-research-associate-or-scientist-1-polytope-bio-astera-institute-dcpccg9h5c24) — Emeryville, CA
- [Research Scientist/Engineer, Deep Brain Two Photon Imaging and Optogenetics](https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-engineer-deep-brain-two-photon-imaging-and-optogenetics-67dzysn3hyam) — Alameda, CA
- [Lead Scientist, Primate Whole-Brain Mapping & Atlas Development](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-scientist-primate-whole-brain-mapping-atlas-development-astera-institute-cxkjfnk72fvb) — Alameda, CA
- [Research Scientist, All-Optical Investigation of Rodent Cognition](https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-all-optical-investigation-of-rodent-cognition-astera-6mt4g8pwc4hn) — Alameda, CA