Research Scientist - Optical Physiology and Neurotechnology

About The Mindspan Institute

The Mindspan Institute is a new non-profit research institute in Cambridge, MA, aimed at building novel tools to analyze the human brain, and scaling them to study its molecules and wiring. We interpret how they contribute to brain functions and dysfunctions, and share our tools and discoveries as freely as possible, to advance human health.

Research Scientist, Optical Physiology and Neurotechnology

Mindspan Institute · Cambridge, MA (on-site) · Full-time

The role

This is an engineering-oriented science role, recording, controlling, analyzing, and visualizing neural activities with cellular and subcellular resolutions. This job involves careful thinking about which parameters matter and why, meticulous execution, and sharp observation of results—and figuring out what parameters to optimize to improve recording quality and throughput.

You will report to the Head of Optical Physiology and work, as needed, with other Mindspan teams—Scalable Chemistry, Microscopy and Optics, Automation and Industrialization, and Computation and Analysis—using logic and evidence to advance your work so as to boost the performance of all.

This position is intended for someone who wants to redefine what is possible in cellular activity imaging, in addition to performing experiments using existing tools. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the job, the position is ideal for a person who enjoys problem solving across intellectual boundaries, both at the level of concepts as well as at the level of hands-on debugging. It also requires systematic documentation, analysis, and iterative problem-solving skills, to arrive at working protocols, apply them, and share them.

What you'll do

• Design, execute, and optimize cellular activity imaging experiments.
• Lead efforts to produce high-quality voltage imaging and synaptic recording data from iPSC-derived neurons and human and mouse brain slices.
• Characterize optogenetics and voltage sensor performance.
• Evaluate gene expression systems.
• Analyze physiology data in collaboration with the Computational and Analysis team.

Required qualifications

• Ph.D. in bioengineering, neuroscience, biophysics, chemistry, biochemistry, materials science, or a related field.
• Demonstrated expertise with neuronal activity recordings, e.g., electrophysiology, calcium imaging, voltage imaging.
• Direct hands-on experience with neural tissue handling, cell culture, histology, and fluorescent microscopy.
• Experience in interpreting neuronal dynamics from imaging data.
• Strong data analysis skills (Python, C++, MATLAB, ImageJ, or similar).
• Demonstrated ability to build, modify, troubleshoot, and improve complex experimental systems.
• Excellent experimental judgment and scientific rigor.

Preferred qualifications

• Direct hands-on experience with voltage imaging and optogenetics.
• Experience with human iPSC differentiation and mouse brain slice recording.
• Background in synaptic physiology.
• Experience with patch clamp recordings.
• Familiarity with viral and nonviral gene expression systems.

What we're looking for

The ideal candidate is a scientist-engineer who naturally crosses disciplinary boundaries. You are intellectually curious, relentlessly practical, and happiest when solving problems that have never been solved before. You have a strong detail orientation and exceptional organizational, planning, interpersonal, and communication skills. You are good at writing, can work independently and collaboratively, and can prioritize and multitask as needed. Self-motivation, commitment to high-quality standards, and a service-oriented mindset are all key. You have good judgment—balancing flexibility and focus, action and planning, speed and thoughtfulness—as appropriate. You are open to giving and receiving feedback, constructively and thoughtfully, to advance scientific missions and personal growth.

Culture we're building

The disorders of the brain affect over 1,000,000,000 people around the world—Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke—and other conditions—none of which can be cured. We operate with a sense of urgency, even as we look to understand the brain at its most fundamental levels.

We are hypercollaborative, and focused on impact over short-term markers of productivity. Creativity and failure are the stepping stones to scale, and working together with “strong opinions, weakly held” is our style.

We solve real engineering problems the best way we can: inventing fast when we have to, and using good existing solutions where they exist. We believe hard problems only yield to many disciplines working together, so collaboration is not optional.

We expect people to explore the unknown, which means making mistakes daily, owning them, and learning from them to improve and excel.

We are recruiting a team of scientists and engineers who exemplify all these values.

What we offer

The chance to build optical physiology approaches at a new research institute alongside some of the most adventurous scientists in the field. The institute is organized around end-to-end runs that carry tissue from intake to a reconstruction worth simulating, and your pipeline sits in the middle of every one of them. You will get to contribute to addressing one of the most important unmet medical needs of our time, as part of the initial team. You will learn lots of things that probably cannot be learned any other way, as you solve problems, build, and work with others. As Mindspan grows, we expect this role to grow with it.

Comprehensive health, dental, vision, and family benefits, and a matching retirement contribution.

Competitive salary ($120,000–$159,000), depending on experience.

The Mindspan Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to a collaborative and scientifically rigorous environment for everyone who works here.