Postdoctoral Scientist – Reiser Lab

Primary Work Address: 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA, 20147

Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account.

About the role:

The Reiser Lab is seeking a Postdoctoral Scientist who wants to understand how brains control behavior, and who is equally excited about developing new methods and using them to collect datasets that were not possible before. In this role, you will develop and validate methods for automating Drosophila behavior and two-photon neurophysiology experiments, with the goal of delivering datasets that answer central questions about how neural circuits orchestrate behavior. Complete wiring diagrams of the fly brain now generate far more hypotheses than our traditional experiments can test. That is why we are revamping our entire experimental approach, combining custom instrumentation, higher-throughput rigs, robotics, and adaptive experimental design, so that data from one set of experiments shapes the stimuli and conditions of the next. We are pragmatic about AI, with scientists setting the questions and making the judgment calls. AI-assisted software development already lets our small team build robust experimental systems quickly. We are building toward agents that monitor rigs and data quality, and models that help schedule the most informative next experiment.

You will work closely with a small transdisciplinary team, and you will have the freedom to pursue the biological questions that these datasets open. We welcome candidates from any technical background who are curious about brains and behavior and care deeply about experimental design and execution; training in neuroscience, engineering, physics, computer science, or another quantitative field is ideal.

About the Lab:

The Reiser Lab studies how the fly brain transforms visual input into behavior, combining instrumentation, quantitative behavior, physiology, connectomics, and computational modeling. We build our own tools, including fast LED displays, and we share them with labs around the world. Our current focus is scaling up experiments by automating fly handling, behavioral phenotyping, and two-photon imaging. For more information about the lab, please visit:  reiserlab.org.

What we provide:

• Access to Janelia’s shared resources and engineering support for instrument design and fabrication, scientific computing, fly husbandry, and advanced imaging.
• A competitive compensation package, with comprehensive health and welfare benefits.
• A highly collaborative, interdisciplinary campus where biologists, engineers, and computational scientists work side by side.
• One-on-one mentorship, with support for career development toward an independent research or technical leadership career.
• Support to attend and present at scientific conferences.
• Amenities that enhance work-life balance such as on-site childcare, free gyms, available on-campus housing, social and dining spaces, and convenient shuttle bus service to Janelia from the Washington D.C. metro area.

What you’ll do:

• Design, build, and validate automated setups for fly behavior and two-photon imaging, from fly preparation through stimulus delivery, acquisition, and quality control.
• Help run large-scale experiments, taking ownership of data quality.
• Develop adaptive, closed-loop protocols that select stimuli and experimental conditions based on incoming data.
• Integrate AI into the experimental loop for rig monitoring, data QC, analysis, and experiment selection.
• Develop your own scientific questions about neural circuits and behavior, building on the methods and datasets you create.
• Analyze large behavioral and neural datasets to test connectome-based models of the fly nervous system.
• Collaborate with a small team to build robust, documented, and replicable experimental systems and analysis pipelines.
• Share methods, data, and code with the community, and publish and present the results.

What you bring:

• Ph.D. in neuroscience, engineering, physics, computer science, or another quantitative field. Experience with Drosophila is not required, but curiosity about brains and behavior is.
• A passion for experimental design and execution, with a record of building methods or systems that produced high-quality data, such as behavioral rigs, imaging systems, closed-loop experiments, or analysis pipelines.
• Strong quantitative skills, including scientific programming and working with large datasets.
• Current hands-on experience with AI-assisted or agentic coding and engineering, using tools such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor to build and maintain working software.
• Experience in any of the following is valuable: neurobiology, quantitative animal behavior, optics and microscopy, machine vision, machine learning, or robotics.
• Strong pluses: interest in optimization (for example adaptive experimental design, Bayesian optimization, or active learning); familiarity with project-management software (Linear, Jira, or similar).
• A genuine interest in team-based science, and strong written and verbal communication skills.

Physical Requirements:

Remaining in a normal seated or standing position for extended periods of time; reaching and grasping by extending hand(s) or arm(s); dexterity to manipulate objects with fingers, for example using a keyboard; communication skills using the spoken word; ability to see and hear within normal parameters; ability to move about 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 accommodation. Requests for reasonable accommodation will be evaluated on an individual basis.

 

Please Note:

This job description sets forth the job’s principal duties, responsibilities, and requirements; it should not be construed as an exhaustive statement, however.  Unless they begin with the word “may,” the Essential Duties and Responsibilities described above are “essential functions” of the job, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Compensation:

A Postdoc 00 (0 to 1 year research experience after obtaining a PhD) is compensated at a rate of $74,200.00 annually at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus.

Pay Type:

Annual

HHMI’s salary structure is developed based on relevant job market data. HHMI considers a candidate's education, previous experiences, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity when making job offers.

#LI-BRI

Compensation and Benefits

Our employees are compensated from a total rewards perspective in many ways for their contributions to our mission, including competitive pay, exceptional health benefits, retirement plans, time off, and a range of recognition and wellness programs. Visit our Benefits at HHMI site to learn more. 

HHMI is an Equal Opportunity Employer

We use E-Verify to confirm the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires.