Recruit

The Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine invites applications for a Specialist position (at the junior or assistant rank) under the supervision of Professor Anna Leshinskaya. We seek a talented researcher/engineer excited to develop technical tools for the lab and run experiments with us!

This role involves building out the technical infrastructure of the lab, including development of software environments for working with large language models, analyzing human neuroimaging data, and writing analysis code for all of the above. You will write substantial experiment and analysis code and assemble open-source code repositories into project workflows with best-practices baked in. You will have the opportunity to work on a variety of collaborative research projects in the lab, attend conferences, and contribute to publications. Research projects include interpretability experiments in large language models and fMRI and behavioral experiments with humans. This is a unique role for those interested in jointly studying human brains and artificial neural networks, especially with the lens of mechanistic interpretability and AI alignment. Opportunities to pursue independent research projects and receive mentoring towards graduate school applications or other research roles will be provided. Rank and salary will be determined based on qualifications and experience.

The selected candidate will be expected to:

• Write code to run human and machine learning experiments and analyze data using Python, R, JavaScript and Unix/shell
• Develop shared infrastructure / pipelines for collaborative projects
• Manage some administrative duties in the lab (10-15%)

Qualifications
Basic Qualifications:

• BA or BSc in a relevant field
• 2+ years of experience in software engineering, technical cognitive science research or data science, in either industry or academia
• strong facility with Python and Unix
• familiarity with statistics or probability
• passion for research at the intersection of human cognition and AI
• excellent organizational and project management skills, attention to detail, and communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with web development and Javascript
• Experience with Pytorch, HuggingFace Transfomer modules, and ML concepts
• Experience in a collaborative coding environment including Github and Docker
• 2+ years experience in data analysis and experiment design in cognitive science or machine learning/AI

The University of California, Irvine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC anti-discrimination policy.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties
• APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment.
  

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.