Research Associate, Rodent Surgery & Behavior

Astera Institute; Alameda (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Open science environment

Equal opportunity employer

Job summary

Astera Neuro, part of Astera Institute, is seeking a Research Associate to join the rodent neuroscience team. You will lead cranial-window surgeries, manage behavior training sessions, and keep the colony and rigs in top condition to enable all-optical experiments reading and perturbing working memory in the mouse cortex.

The role requires meticulous hands and the ability to perform high-volume, precise work, with close collaboration to scientists and vivarium staff.

Qualifications

• Current hands-on experience performing mouse survival surgery: cranial-window implantation and headbar installation, plus stereotaxic injections.
• High surgical yield and long-lived window preparations.
• Meticulous, fast hands, and ability to sustain high-quality work at volume.

Responsibilities

• Perform mouse survival surgeries and cranial-window implants.
• Run head-fixed behavior training on sequence working-memory tasks.
• Build and maintain behavior rigs and ensure rig upkeep.
• Coordinate animal sourcing, health, and vivarium readiness.
• Maintain careful records of surgeries and training histories.
• Work with scientists on all-optical experiments to keep prep aligned.

Skills

Python scripting

Surgical skills

Colony management experience

Education

BS/BA in neuroscience, biology, bioengineering or related field

Tools

Bonsai

Harp

Stereotaxic equipment

Job description

Company Overview

Astera Neuro is a philanthropically funded research organization within the Astera Institute, working to decipher and ultimately write the neural codes underlying perception, thought, behavior, and internal state. The tools this requires do not yet exist, so we are assembling a founding team of experimental neuroscientists, computational scientists, and engineers to build them, from recording and interface hardware to software and computational methods, and to use them to study neural activity at unprecedented scale, with direct promise for treating neurological and psychiatric disease. We pursue high-risk, high-reward science in a collaborative, well-resourced environment with competitive compensation, and share our tools, data, and discoveries openly under Astera's Open Science Policy

Position Summary

We’re hiring a research associate to join Astera Neuro’s rodent neuroscience team. Your initial assignment is to run the surgery and behavior training that prepare animals for an all-optical program: reading, writing, and perturbing working memory in the mouse cortex. Chronic cranial-window and headbar implants are the core of the job from day one.

The ideal candidate is meticulous and fast with their hands, with experience performing cranial-window surgeries. You can implant a window in the morning, run a behavior-training session in the afternoon, and keep the colony and the rigs in order. A clear, long-lived window is what makes a write-in experiment possible, so surgical yield and preparation quality set the ceiling on what the team can attempt.

What You’ll Do

• Perform mouse survival surgeries: stereotaxic AAV viral-vector delivery, chronic cranial-window implantation, and headbar installation.
• Run head-fixed behavior training on the sequence working-memory task, including daily training, data collection, and rig upkeep.
• Build and maintain behavior rigs, including Bonsai and Harp control and lickport hardware.
• Run the mouse colony and coordinate animal sourcing, health, and readiness with the vivarium.
• Keep careful, shared records of surgeries, training histories, and preparation quality so others can build on the work.
• Work closely with the scientists running the all-optical experiments to keep preparation, imaging, and perturbation tightly coupled.

Who You Are

Required:

• Current, hands-on experience performing mouse survival surgery: chronic cranial-window implantation and headbar installation, plus stereotaxic viral injections. This is the requirement that matters most: these are hard skills to learn, and we need them on day one.
• A track record of high surgical yield and healthy, long-lived window preparations.
• Meticulous, fast hands, and the ability to sustain high-quality work at volume.

Preferred/Nice to Have:

• Head-fixed behavior-training experience, ideally with working-memory or sequence tasks.
• Scripting in Python and familiarity with Bonsai and Harp or comparable behavior-control tools.
• Experience building and maintaining behavior rigs, including lickport and other custom hardware.
• Experience with two-photon imaging or optogenetic stimulation in awake mice.
• Colony management experience and comfort coordinating with vivarium staff.

What We Value

• Conviction that the brain’s internal model can be understood in full, and that getting there requires a kind of science no single academic lab can do; we’re betting on scale, deep collaboration, and open sharing of ideas in a full-stack environment.
• Willingness to be held to an engineering standard. In this role that standard lands on the preparation: we treat surgical yield and window quality as scientific results, not support work.
• Comfort building on shared infrastructure rather than private projects; rigs, surgical preparations, and records are standardized so they can be shared across the team.
• Care for the animals: healthy, well-handled, calm mice, supported by dedicated veterinary oversight, are the foundation of both the science and its credibility, independent of what regulation requires.
• Commitment to open science. We release tools, data, and methods, and aim to create a new dynamic of rapid, open exchange in neuroscience.

Education

BS or BA with 0-6+ years of experience in neuroscience, biology, bioengineering, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience. We value demonstrated skill and relevant experience above credentials.

Compensation

Total compensation is competitive and commensurate with the level of experience and qualifications.

Why Join Us

Research Associate at Astera Neuro preparing animals for an all-optical program to read, write, and perturb working memory in mouse cortex. You will perform the surgeries the program depends on, run behavior training, and keep the colony and rigs in order. This work sits within Astera Neuro’s larger effort to answer the hardest and least understood questions in neuroscience: how the brain generates thoughts, intelligence, and consciousness.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and inclusion.

Compensation Range: $80K - $120K