We offer research opportunities to potential undergradaute students interested in marine biology, electrophysiology, neuroethology & Bio-Inspired Intelligence.
Currently we are looking for students for these projects in 2026 fall and summer semester:
- 1. Neural & Physics Simulation, Robotics & Biologically-plausible AI.
- 2. Fresh and saltwater animal tank maintenance. (octopus, sea slugs, anemones)
- 3. Electrophysiology projects
- 4. Histology projects
Our work combines:
- Behavioral training/assay
- Electrophysiology
- Robotics and bio-inspired design
- Coding and data analysis
- Computational modeling
Project Tracks
Students can apply to one or more tracks depending on their interests. Students are required to develop own research projects.
1. Marine Animal Care & Behavioral Training Track
For students interested in: Neuroethology, comparative/integrative biology, marine biology
Responsibilities include:
- Maintaining seawater tank systems, water change, and monitoring water quality
- Importing new animals into the system
- Feeding octopus, sea slugs, and anemones
- Learning humane animal care protocols
- Designing and conducting behavioral training sessions
- Tracking behavioral data
- Good data management habits
- Creating / standardizing experiement protocol
Important: This role requires reliability. Animals depend on us.
2. Electrophysiology & Signal processing
For students interested in:
Electrophysiology, bioengineering, medicine, neural circuits
Students may work on:
- Learning neural recording techniques
- Assisting with electrode setup and signal amplification
- Recording neural activity
- Signal preprocessing and quality control
- Analyzing firing patterns and neural responses
Required knowledge/skills (or what you will be exposed to):
- Neurophysiology
- Solution preparation
- Electric circuitry
- Digital/analog signal processing
- Animal handling, dissction and micro-dissection
- Good data management habits
- Creating / standardizing experiement protocol
No prior experience required — training is provided.
Students who stay longer may:
- Design small independent recording experiments
- Analyze datasets for posters or reports
2.2 Histology & Imaging analysis
These projects aims to identify key regions in the molluscan nervous system related to decision-making process.
For students interested in:
Histology, physiology, neural circuits
Requirements:
- Dissection and identification of brain tissues of octopus and sea slugs
- Performing and developing staining protocol of live and fixed tissues
- Neurophysiology
- Solution preparation
- Imaging analysis
- Good data management habits
3. Computational neuroscience, Robotics & Biologically-plausible AI
Students may work on:
- Working with microcontrollers (e.g., Arduino, Jetson-nano, etc.)
- robotics-related programming (ROS2)
- Computational simulation of robotic arms
- Processing neural signals
- Data management and organization
- Building pipelines for large datasets
- Visualization and modeling
Prior related experience is helpful but not required — curiosity and persistence matter more.
Who Should Apply?
We encourage you to apply even if you don’t satify every requirement of the position. We look for students who are:
- Self-motivated
- Comfortable learning independently
- Being able to develop independent research projects
- Willing to take ownership of a project
- Being able to read scientific papers and technical manuals
- Good data management habit
- Scientific writing (can be trained during the projects)
- Presentation skills
Expectations
- Minimum commitment: 10 hours/week (behavior study) 8 hours/day for electrophysiology experiemnts,(not daily).
- Preferred duration: at least two semesters or during summer
- Students will gradually take increasing responsibility.
- Long-term students may develop independent projects.
How to Apply
Include the following in your application:
- A short paragraph describing which track(s) interest you and why
- Your preliminary research plan or idea
- Your resume (optional)
- Any relevant experience (optional)