We are building a new interdisciplinary research group at UNC-Chapel Hill. We welcome backgrounds in ML, data science, physics, applied math, CS/engineering, neuroscience, or biology. Strong quantitative skills are essential; experience in neuroscience or biology is a plus but not required. Other or unusual backgrounds are welcome too, especially with relevant real-world experience and strong quantitative skills.

PhD students

We are recruiting PhD students for Fall 2027. Students can join the lab through the SDIS degree programs, such as the PhD in Data Science (apply by Dec. 15, 2026; Dec. 1 for early funding consideration). Joining through other graduate programs on campus may also be possible; details to come.

Undergraduate research assistants and post-baccs

UNC undergraduates who want hands-on research experience, and recent graduates considering graduate school, are welcome to get in touch. You don't need prior research experience, but programming experience (e.g. Python) and coursework in math, statistics, or CS help, and exposure to neuroscience or biology is a plus.

Possible project areas include:

• Agent-based models for neuroscience and biology
• Reinforcement learning and multi-agent RL
• Empirical theory of neural networks and RNNs (science of deep learning)
• Mechanistic interpretability
• Program synthesis
• Dynamical systems analysis
• Computational neuroscience
• NeuroAI
• Neural and biological data analysis

Past undergraduate and post-bacc mentees have been first or co-first authors at venues such as CoSyNe, CCN, and NeurIPS workshops (see below).

Interested? Send an email with your CV and a few lines about your interests, and say which position you are asking about. (Please note that there will be a delay in my responses as I transition/move to Chapel-Hill over the next few weeks.)