Senior neuroscience research lead

Berkeley, CA       ·       Full time

Jhourney is hiring an ambitious, talented neuroscientist to form our founding team and lead research on the neural correlates of altered states of meditation. Candidates can look forward to helping set up and scale a research program in collaboration with world-class scientists and engineers with diverse technical backgrounds.

About Jhourney

Jhourney is a neurotech company dedicated to making peak contemplative experiences more accessible by (a) mapping the neural correlates of such experiences and (b) engineering applications to help people learn to access them faster (e.g. neurofeedback). It has close ties with the Neurospirituality Lab at Harvard University and Center for Psychedelics at the University of California, Berkeley – its research team will affiliate with and receive scientific advisory from both. It also works closely with The Berkeley Alembic, a research and meditation center committed to scientific understanding of meditation in Berkeley, California, who’s growing scientific advisory board includes leading academics, such as Sara Lazar and Shamil Chandaria.

The opportunity

This is a distinct position at the intersection of academia and industry. The neuroscientist will lead an ambitious study to map the neural correlates of blissful, altered states of meditation known as jhanas (e.g., Hagerty et al. 2013, Dennison 2019). This is part of a larger, multi-year effort to make these high-valence states, which often require hundreds or thousands of hours of practice, more accessible. The position offers:

• High-impact role: The successful candidate will be responsible for setting up a new EEG lab and leading and executing the mapping of the neural correlates as part of a three-person founding team. They’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the research, the team, and the company.
• Access to a rare population: We have access to a highly rare population of unusually proficient meditators as study participants, and we have recruited meditators with thousands or tens of thousands of hours of lifetime practice.
• Multi-modal imaging opportunities: To reliably document the neural correlates of jhana meditation, we will be using both EEG and fMRI. While EEG expertise is expected, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to receive fMRI data acquisition and analysis training in collaboration with Dr. Kathryn Devaney at UC Berkeley, if desired.
• Authorship opportunities: Academic interest in jhana meditation has been established, however, the neural correlates have not been well documented. The neuroscientist will have the opportunity to affiliate and publish their results in collaboration with our colleagues at Harvard Medical School and UC Berkeley.
• Exposure to industry: Jhourney is a neurotech startup, this position will work in close collaboration with a ML scientist with 5+ years of industry experience. There will be ample opportunity to interface with engineers and investors in Silicon Valley.
• High-impact work: Mental health interventions that make these states more accessible have the potential to be of unusually high impact. Jhana training results in the practitioner developing an ability to induce a high valence, positive emotional state independent of external input. This has significant implications for mental health and wellbeing applications.

Responsibilities

This is a senior role with extensive responsibilities. The neuroscientist will co-lead the study from start-to-finish alongside an industry expert in data modeling (e.g., developing and deploying ML models at scale). Responsibilities include:

• Set up of new EEG lab and maintenance of EEG equipment
• Finalizing the study design – the study has been planned sufficiently to secure funding for the necessary equipment and logistics, and received input from several world experts, but the neuroscientist will be expected to make and justify tradeoff decisions in the final study protocol
• Study start-up, data collection and analysis, development of data pipelines, management of data, and development of code repositories
• Shaping effective advisory conversations with advisors from various institutions
• Designing followup studies as needed, such as validation of the neural correlates
• External presentations designed to solicit feedback and establish awareness
• Optionally, development of manuscripts for feedback and publishing

You’ll be a great fit for this position if you:

• Are optimistic about our ability to use contemplative practice to make significant breakthroughs in mental health and wellbeing in our lifetimes.
• Are specific and scientific in your optimism – you’re interested in ambitious moonshots by default, but require well-calibrated evidence in order to get excited.
• Don’t just inquire for inquiry’s sake – you want to build something that works.
• Have a collaborative mindset. Ideally, you can tell us about hard projects you’ve worked on with others in the past.

Location

The role will be in the San Francisco Bay Area. Data collection will happen in Berkeley, California.

Duration: 2 or more years

The initial purpose of this role is to lead from start to finish the mapping of the neural correlates, which we expect to take 18 – 24 months. There will be ample additional opportunities afterwards.

Qualifications

Essential

• Ph. D.  in Neuroscience or a related discipline
• Five years of experience (or equivalent) with acquiring, analyzing, and interpreting human subject EEG data
• A strong record of accomplishment in their field, including publications, presentations, and/or patents
• Strong computer programming skills (e.g., Matlab, Python, R)
• Excellent team player with references: organized, communicative, able to manage and contribute to team-wide dynamics and decisions, independent and self-directed, etc.

Ideal

• Experience, personal or professional, with meditation or contemplative practice
• Experience with integrated EEG and fMRI data collection and analysis

Compensation

Jhourney offers competitive industry compensation and benefits, including:

• Excellent health insurance + dental and vision
• 401(k) plan
• Pre-tax commuter benefits
• All 3 day weekends turned into 4-day holidays
• Unlimited vacation, minimum 2 weeks

Compensation will vary based on non-discriminatory factors (e.g. qualifications, experience).

Equal Employment Opportunity

Jhourney is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that proudly pursues and hires a diverse workforce. Jhourney does not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws or prohibited by Company policy. Jhourney also strives for a healthy and safe workplace and strictly prohibits harassment of any kind.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and other similar state laws and local ordinances, and its internal policy, Jhourney will also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.