Joining the Chang Lab

The Chang Lab is currently recruiting highly motivated individuals to join our research team. Our lab is composed of scientists from a range of academic backgrounds including (but not limited to) neuroscience, linguistics, (bio-)engineering, computer science, cognitive science, and psychology. We are proud to be a diverse team, with diverse nationalities, ethnicities, language backgrounds, genders, and ages. Some of our members have children and partners. In addition to providing a sustainable work-life balance for our team, we seek to create a supportive environment for innovative and rigorous scientific research as well as personal and professional development of all our members.

PhD Students

Those interested in working in the Chang Lab for their PhD are encouraged to apply to the Neuroscience program at UCSF or the Bioengineering program offered jointly by UC Berkeley and UCSF.

Prospective students interested in learning more about the research going on in the lab are encouraged to send a brief email describing their interests and a copy of their CV to edward [dot] chang [at] ucsf [dot] edu. We also encourage interested applicants to learn about our lab by reaching out to current lab members via email. Prospective graduate students are expected to be passionate about our research, but need not be experts in neuroscience, linguistics, or computer science.

Postdoctoral Fellows

The Chang Lab welcomes applications for postdoctoral fellows. Applicants are expected to have a strong background in engineering, computation, or statistics, and to be skilled in programming with Python or MATLAB.

Our lab is located at Center for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN) at UCSF, providing excellent opportunities for multidisciplinary interaction with our close collaborators:  

• Systems neuroscientists at CIN

• Engineering (CNEP) and linguistics at UC Berkeley

• Clinical neurology and neurosurgery at UCSF Medical Center 

Interested applicants can contact edward [dot] chang [at] ucsf [dot] edu (please include CV), and are also encouraged to reach out to current and former lab members.

Open Positions

• The lab is currently seeking a full-time postdoc to work on a research clinical trial for speech neuroprosthetics for paralyzed patients. The project will focus heavily on closed-loop learning enabled by real-time speech decoding. Experience with closed-loop algorithms, ECoG processing, and machine learning is preferred. Proficiency in Python is required.

• We are currently seeking a full-time engineering postdoc to join a new and unique multidisciplinary team, headed jointly by Dr. Chang and device-engineering specialist Dr. Peng Cong, focused on the development of brain-interfacing implantable medical devices. Solid analog and digital circuit design skills, experience with complex PCB design, and signal processing knowledge are requirements, as is a demonstrated ability to thrive in a fast-paced research & development environment. Further experience with active implantable medical product development; mixed-signal IC design; bio-signal acquisition system design; and/or microcontroller programming is preferred. A key area of focus will be electronics design for development of new implantable brain-interfacing devices; electronics may include embedded systems, mixed analog/digital circuits, power circuits, and RF.

• *NEW WINTER 2025*: We are seeking a full-time postdoc to join a new project that is focused on understanding how arousal and brain states affect perception and learning. Candidates interested in speech, language, learning, intracranial neurophysiology (human ECoG), and neuromodulation are encouraged to apply. Strong coding skills (Python or Matlab) are required. See here for details.

To apply, please send a CV, very brief cover letter, and 3 references to Matt Leonard (Matthew [dot] Leonard [at] ucsf [dot] edu).