Research Technician - Gonzalez Lab

About the role

This is a hands-on research position for someone who is motivated by both engineering and biology. The Research Technician will help run experiments, care for and handle birds, build and maintain experimental systems, collect and organize behavioral and neural data, and contribute to analysis workflows.

Responsibilities

• Assist with zebra finch behavioral experiments, including animal handling, daily monitoring, husbandry support, and coordination with approved animal-care protocols.
• Operate and maintain experimental systems for audio, video, neural recording, stimulation, and behavioral monitoring during singing, social interaction, and sleep.
• Build, modify, and troubleshoot laboratory instruments using 3D printing, CNC machining, electronic prototyping, microcontrollers, sensors, cameras, microphones, and custom software.
• Capture, verify, organize, and document behavioral, audio, video, electrophysiology, imaging, and experimental metadata with attention to reproducibility and data integrity.
• Use software tools such as Python, MATLAB, ImageJ/FIJI, Arduino or related microcontroller environments, and AI-assisted coding workflows to process data and improve lab pipelines.
• Help develop and test analyses for birdsong, motif structure, sleep-state decoding, closed-loop experiments, and eventually human EEG/natural speech datasets.
• Prepare figures, summaries, quality-control reports, and basic analyses for lab meetings, manuscripts, grant materials, and project planning.
• Maintain inventories, organize shared lab spaces, track equipment status, support routine maintenance, and help ensure safe and compliant laboratory operations.
• Participate in laboratory meetings, planning sessions, and literature discussions relevant to the lab’s research areas.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience, biology, engineering, computer science, physics, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and related work experience.
• Strong interest in both engineering and biology, with motivation to work directly with animals and experimental hardware as well as code and data.
• Some laboratory, animal-care, engineering, computational, electronics, maker-space, or research experience preferred.
• Basic programming or data-analysis experience, ideally in Python, MATLAB, R, Arduino, or related tools.
• Prior experience with AI-assisted coding is helpful but not required.
• Comfort learning unfamiliar systems, troubleshooting equipment, reading documentation, and solving practical problems with careful supervision and good judgment.
• Able to keep accurate records, follow protocols, document decisions, and communicate progress and problems clearly.
• Able to work inclusively and collaboratively with a diverse population of trainees, staff, and collaborators.
• A serious interest in scientific discovery and a willingness to engage deeply with the technical and biological questions behind the work.
• Reliable, attentive to detail, curious, and able to balance independent initiative with careful adherence to approved protocols and supervisor direction.

Qualifications

• 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).
• Work may involve possible exposure to malodorous vapors, low dose radiation, contamination by toxic chemicals and acids and presence of carcinogenic substances or other hazardous materials.

Skills

• Programming or data-analysis skills, preferably in Python, MATLAB, R, Arduino, or related tools.
• Experience with AI-assisted coding workflows.
• Ability to troubleshoot equipment and solve practical problems.
• Attention to detail and ability to document decisions.
• Collaborative and inclusive work style.

Benefits

We provide a creative neuroscience lab studying vocal communication, sleep, social behavior, and neural dynamics. Direct training in animal behavior, experimental design, neural recording, stimulation, imaging, data analysis, and research operations. Opportunities to build custom tools using 3D printing, CNC machining, electronics, microcontrollers, audio/video synchronization, and computer-controlled behavioral systems. State-of-the-art resources, including high-density electrophysiology, advanced optical imaging, confocal and light sheet microscopy, and high-capacity computational analysis. A lab culture that values initiative, technical rigor, careful record keeping, collaboration, and responsible use of modern software tools. A highly interdisciplinary research environment at UCSF, with connections to neuroscience, engineering, computation, behavior, and clinical questions related to speech and movement. A Bay Area location with competitive salary and access to San Francisco, the coast, and Silicon Valley.