Opportunities

We are excited to recruit highly motivated and intellectually curious undergraduate research assistants to join our lab. Undergraduate researchers work closely with a postdoctoral fellow, graduate student, or directly with Dr. Drieu, and all students meet regularly with Dr. Drieu to discuss progress and receive feedback. Our goal is to provide comprehensive training in systems neuroscience research while fostering scientific independence and long-term professional growth. We particularly value students who are interested in a long-term commitment to the lab, as sustained involvement allows for deeper intellectual engagement and more substantive research contributions. Undergraduate researchers are involved in all aspects of a project, including experimental design and hypothesis development, animal training, neural recordings and circuit manipulations, data analysis (MATLAB and Python), scientific writing and presentation. Students are encouraged to actively contribute ideas and present their work during lab meetings. The most dedicated and successful undergraduate researchers have the opportunity to make author-level contributions and be included in scientific publications. 

If you are interested in joining the lab, please send an email to Dr. Drieu or Maricela with: (1) your year and major, (2) a CV, and (3) a cover letter outlining your motivation for applying to our lab, relevant qualifications and coursework, and your anticipated availability and time commitment. 

Undergraduates in our lab are encouraged to apply for competitive research funding, and we are happy to support them throughout the application process. 

Resources and funding opportunities for JHU students:

• Hopkins Office for Undergraduate Research (HOUR)

• University Undergraduate Research Fellowship (first year students, up to $12,000 of funding over three years)

• The Dean’s ASPIRE Grants (from $500 to $5,000 over one year)

• PURA

• Summer PURA 

We are excited to recruit PhD students through the Psychological & Brain Sciences (PBS) PhD program and the Neuroscience PhD program. 

Students passionate about understanding the neural mechanisms of behavior (whether through experiments, computation, or theory) are strongly encouraged to reach out to Céline and apply in the fall to the PBS or Neuroscience PhD programs. We are particularly interested in students who are intellectually curious, collaborative, and eager to engage deeply with systems neuroscience questions.

Graduate students currently enrolled in a JHU graduate program should reach out to Céline to discuss the possibility of rotating in the lab.

We are excited to recruit highly motivated and creative postdoctoral fellows. We welcome candidates with an outstanding record of research achievement and particular expertise in electrophysiology, two-photon imaging, behavior, and/or computational neuroscience. Interested applicants should email Céline directly with a brief introduction, a statement describing their research interests and long-term goals, a CV, and the names and contact information of 2-3 references.

We do not currently have open positions for a lab manager or lab technician.

We welcome visiting undergraduate and graduate students from around the world who are interested in gaining research experience in systems neuroscience. Visiting students can engage in ongoing projects spanning behavior, large-scale neural recordings, circuit manipulations, and computational analysis.

Visiting students are expected to secure their own funding to support the duration of their stay. Because arranging institutional approvals and visa documentation can take significant time, international students should contact Dr. Céline Drieu at least one year in advance of their intended start date. Early communication is essential to ensure sufficient time for administrative and visa processes.

Interested students should email Dr. Drieu with a brief introduction, a summary of their current training and research experience, the proposed duration of the visit, and their research interests.

We welcome applications from data scientists and software engineers interested in developing tools and infrastructure for large-scale neuroscience research.

Our work generates high-dimensional, multi-region neural datasets that require robust data pipelines, scalable analysis frameworks, and advanced statistical and machine learning approaches. We are particularly interested in individuals excited about building reproducible workflows, designing analysis toolkits, implementing real-time systems (e.g. closed-loop experiments, online behavior tracking, and online neuronal pattern detection), and developing computational methods to extract structure from complex neural data.

Ideal candidates have strong programming experience (e.g. Python, MATLAB, C++, or related languages), experience working with large datasets, and an interest in collaborative, interdisciplinary research at the intersection of neuroscience, computation, and theory.

Interested applicants should email Dr. Céline Drieu with a brief introduction, a CV, and a description of their technical expertise and research interests.