Research Scientist - Simplex
Who We're Looking For
We're looking for people who can do rigorous mathematics and get their hands dirty with real models and data; ideally someone who moves naturally between theory and experiment, and feels deeply driven to understand intelligence.
You learn across fields. Our work draws on many fields, like dynamical systems, probability, deep learning, physics, information theory, and neuroscience. You don't need to know all of it coming in, but you're the kind of person who picks things up, and follows your curiosity—and surprising experimental results—wherever they lead.
You have taste. You know the difference between a problem that matters and a problem that's merely publishable. You have opinions about research directions, not just techniques. You care about the craft of how experiments are designed, analyzed, and presented.
You're self-directed. We're a small team. You'll have real ownership over your work, which means figuring out what to do, not just how to do it. You'll work closely with the research team, but we expect you to develop and pursue your own ideas within the broader research program.
You communicate. You can explain your ideas clearly to collaborators, in writing, and on a whiteboard. Science is a team activity for us, and that requires being able to think together.
You build. You're at home in front of a whiteboard and in a terminal. We are building new theory, new code, and new experiments. You think big, but you're serious about it, and you actually try to make things happen rather than just ideating.
You use AI tools, you tinker, you're excited about what's becoming possible. You have depth in at least one quantitative field such as physics, mathematics, neuroscience, machine learning, etc. A PhD is typical but not required if you've found another way to go deep.
Current Projects
Belief discovery at scale
Building a theory of intelligence
Generalization
Red Teaming
Biological Intelligence
About Neuro-AI And Astera Institute
Astera Institute is an independent research organization with a $3B+ endowment, operating outside the constraints of markets and academia. We run more like a startup than a foundation — small team, minimal bureaucracy, high risk tolerance. Neuro-AI is Astera's program for charting a path in a world with thinking machines. It combines three complementary efforts — Neuro (decoding how biological neural activity becomes conscious experience), AGI (neuroscience-informed approaches to engineering intelligence), and Safety (building a scientific understanding of intelligence itself).
The Simplex team leads the Safety effort within Neuro-AI, and additionally has a team in London. This role is employment with Astera Institute.
Compensation Range
$140K - $200K