Postdoc in Neural Circuits & Social VR Research

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI); Ashburn (VA); On-site; USD 66,780 - 81,620; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Health and welfare benefits

Access to imaging facilities

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Mentorship

Conferences support

On-site amenities

Job summary

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) – Schulze Lab at Janelia Research Campus is seeking a Postdoctoral Scientist with hybrid expertise spanning systems neuroscience, computer vision, pose-tracking, behavioral ML, and VR technology. You will probe neural circuits underlying collective behavior and social cognition.

You will design VR paradigms, integrate custom hardware with computational analysis pipelines, and study individuality, sex differences, and stress in group decision-making within a

Qualifications

• PhD in neuroscience, computer science, engineering, or closely related field.
• Hybrid background bridging software–hardware integration and computational/ML skills with systems neuroscience grounding.
• Experience building or working with complex rigs, such as VR systems for behavioral neuroscience research.
• Ability to perform highly complex experiments with reliability and accuracy within time constraints.
• Interest in neural bases of inter-individual differences, including sexually dimorphic and stress-related social contexts.

Responsibilities

• Design VR systems and paradigms to present naturalistic, socially rich stimuli.
• Write software to integrate ML-based/agentic approaches for multi-animal studies.
• Develop and execute experiments on neural circuits underlying inter-individual differences and stress in social behavior.
• Analyze multivariate brain, behavior, and stimulus data using computational methods.
• Prepare technical reports, protocols, and analyses; keep current with systems neuroscience and VR-based behavioral literature.
• Collaborate with the lab’s VR specialist and other members of the Janelia community.

Skills

Neuroscience

Computer science

Engineering

Machine learning

VR systems

Multi-animal tracking

Behavioral analysis

Data analysis

Education

PhD in neuroscience

PhD in computer science

PhD in engineering

Tools

Unity-based VR

Two-photon calcium imaging

Molecular phenotyping

VR hardware integration

Computational pipelines

Job description

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) – Schulze Lab at Janelia Research Campus is seeking a Postdoctoral Scientist with hybrid expertise spanning systems neuroscience, computer vision, pose-tracking, behavioral ML, and VR technology. You will probe neural circuits underlying collective behavior and social cognition.

You will design VR paradigms, integrate custom hardware with computational analysis pipelines, and study individuality, sex differences, and stress in group decision-making within a