Postdoctoral Scientist - Schulze Lab

Primary Work Address:

19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA, 20147

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Scientist with hybrid expertisespanning systems neuroscience, computer-vision, pose-tracking,behavioral ML, and VR technology to join the Schulze Lab. In thisrole, you will integrate custom hardware and software withcomputational analysis pipelines to probe the neural circuitsunderlying collective behavior and social cognition. To design andapply your own virtual reality paradigms, you will be working closely with our lab's VR specialist and collaborate across theteam to investigate the rich, naturalistic behavior we study Danionella.

Further, you will use multi-animal tracking and behavioral classification to study latent structures and createbrain-behavior maps. This is an excellent opportunity for a scientifically drivenresearcher who is comfortable tinkering and who is motivated toadvance the understanding of how individuality, sex differences,and stress shape the brain and decision-making in groups.

The Schulze Lab addresses a central question: how do neuralcircuits compute the experience-dependent actions animals deploy incomplex, social worlds? The lab studies how individual traits,internal state, and context interact to shape both personalbehavioral trajectories and group-level outcomes. We put aparticular focus on the neural basis of inter-individualdifferences, sexually dimorphic and stress-related featuresexpressed in social contexts such as schooling behavior. We usedata-driven approaches for realistic closed-loop controlledVR-experiments, combined with two-photon calcium imaging and molecular phenotyping at single-cell resolution to investigatebrain-wide circuits in the adult vertebrate brain.

Further, we useLICONN for ultra structural analyses. More information about the Schulze lab can be found here: the Schulze Lab page. In addition, the HHMI Janelia Research Campus provides a highly collaborative, resource-rich environment for our work.

• A competitive compensation package, with comprehensive healthand welfare benefits.
• Access to Janelia’s facilities and engineering support forimaging, custom-hardware, scientific computing, Unity-based visualenvironments, in-situ hybridization, and dissection.
• A highly collaborative, interdisciplinary research campus withclose ties to labs working across systems neuroscience,computation, modeling, and tool development.
• One-on-one mentorship.
• Support to attend and present at scientific conferences.
• Amenities that enhance work-life balance such as on-sitechildcare, free gyms, available on-campus housing, social anddining spaces, and convenient shuttle bus service to Janelia fromthe Washington D.C. metro area .

• Design VR systems and paradigms to present naturalistic,socially rich stimuli.
• Write software to integrate ML-based/agentic approaches formulti-animal studies.
• Develop and execute experiments investigating the neuralcircuits underlying inter-individual differences, sexuallydimorphic and stress-related traits in social behavior.
• Analyze the multivariate whole-brain activity, behavioral, andstimulus data using computational approaches. Interpret results inthe context of project goals.
• Prepare technical reports, protocols, and quantitativeanalyses, and maintain familiarity with current literature insystems neuroscience and VR-based behavioral neuroscience.
• Collaborate with the lab’s VR specialist and other members ofthe Janelia community.

• A Ph.D. in neuroscience, computer science, engineering, or aclosely related field.
• A hybrid background bridging software-hardware integration andcomputational as well as ML skills with a solid grounding insystems neuroscience.
• Demonstrated experience building or working with complex rigs,such as VR systems for behavioral neuroscience research.
• Working knowledge of scientific principles and the ability to exercise independent judgment in developing methods, techniques,and evaluation criteria.
• Ability to perform highly complex experiments with high levelsof reliability and accuracy within time constraints.
• Genuine interest in the neural basis of inter-individualdifferences, including sexually dimorphic and stress-relatedfeatures in social contexts such as schooling behavior.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare technical reports and contribute topublications.

Remaining in a normal seated or standing position for extended periods of time; reaching and grasping by extending hand(s) orarm(s); dexterity to manipulate objects with fingers, for exampleusing a keyboard; communication skills using the spoken word; ability to see and hear within normal parameters; ability to moveabout workspace. The position requires mobility, including the ability to move materials weighing up to several pounds (such as a laptop computer or tablet).

Persons with disabilities may be able to perform the essential duties of this position with reasonable…