Astera Institute · 12 hours ago
Research Scientist
Emeryville HQ
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
$140K/yr - $200K/yrAstera Institute is an independent research organization focused on developing a science of intelligence. They are seeking a Research Scientist to contribute to building and applying a rigorous theory of latent internal structure in neural networks, working closely with the research team to explore and understand intelligence through various interdisciplinary approaches.
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Responsibilities
Develop and apply a rigorous theory of latent internal structure in neural networks
Build unsupervised methods that recover belief geometries in real LLMs
Extend the theory to more complex cognitive tasks
Push toward tools reliable enough to matter for safety
Conduct research on belief discovery at scale and generalization of neural networks
Stress-test the framework through red teaming
Test the application of mathematics to biological neural networks
Qualification
Required
Rigorous mathematics skills
Ability to work with real models and data
Ability to move naturally between theory and experiment
Curiosity and willingness to learn across fields like dynamical systems, probability, deep learning, physics, information theory, and neuroscience
Ability to differentiate between a problem that matters and a problem that's merely publishable
Strong opinions about research directions and care about the craft of experiments
Self-directed and able to take ownership over work
Ability to communicate ideas clearly to collaborators, in writing, and on a whiteboard
Experience in building new theory, new code, and new experiments
Depth in at least one quantitative field such as physics, mathematics, neuroscience, machine learning, etc
Preferred
PhD or equivalent in Physics, CS, neuroscience, math, or comparable
Extensive ML experience
Experience in interpretability
Company
Astera Institute
Astera Institute is a non-profit that supports science and technology projects.
Founded in 2010
11-50 employees
H1B Sponsorship
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Current Stage
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Jed McCaleb
Founder
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