Human Neuroscientist, Intracranial Recording

Astera Institute•Emerybille, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Astera Neuro is building a human neuroscience initiative to collect, process, and analyze intracranial data at scale, and we are hiring human neuroscientists to lead this program. You will conduct large-scale studies of the compositional representations underlying language, mathematics, perception, and working memory in neurosurgical patients at the single-neuron level, in close collaboration with partner sites around the world. This role is the human-side complement to Astera Neuro's primate program. You will design and implement intracranial cognitive tasks suitable for wide deployment, translate primate paradigms into compatible human studies, analyze single-neuron and population recordings from the human brain, and coordinate with clinical collaborators around the world. The work runs end to end, from conception, paradigm design, data acquisition, and preprocessing through analysis, publication, and curated open science data releases. It depends on strong scientific judgment, deep knowledge of the scientific literature, careful experimental discipline, a sense for what is feasible in the human space, and genuine collaboration with outside teams. We are hiring at multiple levels for this role. At the Scientist level, you will lead well-defined studies with regular guidance. At the Senior Scientist level, you will own research lines end to end and manage clinical partnerships. At the Principal Scientist level, you will define the human research roadmap, mentor scientists, and shape how Astera's human and animal programs fit together. Title and scope are calibrated to your experience.

Requirements

Hands-on experience with human intracranial electrophysiology (single neuron, sEEG, ECoG, Utah array, or comparable) (expected at the senior or principal level).
Track record, demonstrated by first-author publications, of conducting high-quality science with human intracranial electrophysiology, ideally at the single-neuron level (expected at the senior or principal level).
Demonstrated ability to design and implement cognitive paradigms in clinical research populations (expected at the senior or principal level).
Strong quantitative and analytical skills, with fluency in Python and/or MATLAB (expected at the senior or principal level).
Strong understanding of advanced concepts used for population-level analysis of representations of cognitive variables, either in real neurons or neural networks (expected at the senior or principal level).
Comfort building on shared infrastructure rather than private projects. Paradigms, preprocessing, and analysis will be standardized so that recordings from different patients, sessions, and sites can be combined, and so that human and primate results can be compared directly. This means designing studies others can build on, and building on theirs.
Stewardship of clinical partnerships. Our access to the human brain rests on the trust of patients, surgeons, and neurosurgical monitoring teams. We are looking for someone who can earn the trust of these vital partners through clear communication and real presence at partner sites.
Resourcefulness and ability to self-direct. You scope out what needs to be done, identify the right collaborators, and move forward.
Commitment to open science. We will release tools, data, and methods, and we aim to create a new dynamic of rapid, open exchange in neuroscience.
A PhD or MD/PhD is expected for this role. Backgrounds in engineering, computational neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, or related fields are all welcome. We value demonstrated skill and relevant experience above credentials.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing multi-site clinical research, including IRB submissions and protocol standardization (expected at the senior or principal level).
History of successful mentorship of scientists or leading clinical research initiatives (expected at the principal level).
Strong combined AI and neuroscience background that strengthens the interface between the neuroscience and AI sides of Astera.
Background in the cognitive neuroscience of language, syntax, semantic processing, working memory, or mathematical cognition.
Existing collaborations with neurosurgical sites.
Experience translating paradigms across species (rodent / primate / human).
Working proficiency in Mandarin or a major European language, given our international site network.

Responsibilities

Lead the design, implementation, and deployment of intracranial cognitive paradigms covering language, syntax, semantic learning, mathematical reasoning, perception, and working memory.
Translate primate paradigms into compatible human studies, in close coordination with experimental and computational teams.
Process and analyze single-neuron, multi-unit, and local field potential recordings from the human brain (sEEG, ECoG, microelectrode arrays).
Implement advanced computational cognitive neuroscience methods suited to these large-scale datasets, in close coordination with the Astera AI team.
Coordinate and manage clinical partners around the world, including study setup, data collection visits, and ongoing scientific collaboration.
Own IRB and regulatory documentation, data-sharing agreements, and cross-site protocol harmonization.