Neuroscience Experiment Intern Wanted (Downtown Ann Arbor)
Compensation: $15/hr based on 40-hour work week Employment type: full-time internship
Backyard Brains is seeking a neuroscience intern to continue ongoing experiments!
You: -A STEM undergrad, currently taking a break from the classroom. (Recent grad or gap year preferable) -Passionate about scientific discovery and designing innovative, impactful experiments -Experienced in or excited by a future of scientific outreach -Able to guide a project through every step and take initiative when help is needed -Looking forward to being a Neuroscience ambassador! -Living in the Ann Arbor area
The Job: -Develop and run experiments in ongoing research projects that were started during our summer fellowships -Originate accessible experiment write-ups for use in BYB content channels -Short-term internship; can last 3-6 months, depending on availability and project. -Work in our Ann Arbor office during normal business hours (no parking on-site)
Our experiments have been featured in 9 TED talks and numerous popular science TV shows, such as White Rabbit Project and Bill Nye Saves The World. Your work will provide a basis for further research and even be included in peer-reviewed journal articles (authorship!).
To apply: Please send your CV and cover letter including your research experience (if any) to hello@backyardbrains.com. Tell us why you are interested in applying for an internship at BYB!
We Are: Backyard Brains is a DIY Neuroscience company devoted to bringing the brain to everyone! Because everyone has a brain, that complex but extremely fascinating puppet master of the body. We need more people interested in studying the brain because 20% of the world will have a neurological disorder… and there are no cures! Historically, you need to be a graduate student with funding at a major university to study the brain, but not any more! Backyard Brains wants to help everyone be a neuroscientist! We provide affordable neuroscience experiment kits for students of all ages to learn (hands-on) about electrophysiology. Now everyone from schoolchildren to grad students and every grade in between can experiment with similar tools used by real neuroscientists worldwide! What will you discover?
We’re excited to announce the Backyard Brains will be featured in an episode of “Mind Field,” a YouTube Red original series created by the famous math and science YouTuber, Vsauce!
If you aren’t familiar with Vsauce, definitely give his youtube channel a look! He has become a staple of online science education, as his YouTube videos are created to break down and explain complex ideas in a relatable and almost comedic manner. His new show, Mind Field, dives into the world of human psychology, perception, cognition, and neuroscience. Sounds like our kind of show!
Which is why we were so amped when our co-founder Tim Marzullo traveled to sunny Los Angeles to visit and film at the YouTube production studio! Our very own little slice of neuroscience education would now be exposed to the masses! (Cue mad scientist laughter.) Arriving early in the morning with his trusty toolbox packed full of neuroscience experiments, Tim got right to work filming with Michael Stevens (creator of Vsauce), Alie Ward (TV Science Personality), and the production team at the YouTube studio.
Tim explains, “It was a really novel experience. The only other film shoots I’ve been a part of had small crews and were done ‘semi-live,’ where we only had one or two takes to get something to work. For this episode, we spent all day filming just two experiments, and a lot of work went into each. We would reshoot each take several times, making sure everything turned out beautifully on camera, and refining our script so the descriptions were tight and entertaining. There were ~20 people on the Mind Field crew, so it was really a cool experience to be a part of a high-budget, professional shoot.”
Season 2, Episode 8: The Electric Brain was just dropped this month, and we were so excited to see the fruits of Tim’s trip. It is a YouTube Red show, so you’ll need a subscription to YouTube to see it, but believe us when we tell you that it will be worth it. No spoilers for the show, so we don’t want to say which of our experiments are appearing, but what we can tell you is that they are two of our more provocative experiments…
The Consumer Electronics Show floods Las Vegas annually with nearly 200,000 visitors and exhibitors, and for the first time, Backyard Brains joined the likes of Intel, Google, IBM, and other giants by attending as exhibitors and hosting our own booth!
The trip was fun, but certainly wasn’t without its challenges. Upon arriving in Vegas, our team realized that we were missing something very important… a sign for our exhibit. Oops. Consequently, we spent the evening before the first day of CES hunting for arts and crafts supplies (harder to find than you’d think…) and painting a new sign! We think it turned out pretty well, and it definitely feels very on-brand for a do-it-yourself company.
Our team did demos and talked to interested geeks for four straight days, and it was a blast! We asked people who had never heard of us before to roll up their sleeves for science. The hands shaken, the electrodes used, the business cards traded–it was all a blur of new connections. In the past, we’ve typically only attended scientific conferences, like the Society for Neuroscience conference and the Michigan Science Teachers Association conference, where we’ve been pretty established. So this was our first dip into the consumer world, and a lot of people were excited about the tech and the educational opportunities it provides!
Our RoboRoach proved to be incredibly novel and intriguing for attendees at CES… We didn’t double check with every booth, but we’re fairly certain we were showing off the only real cyborg at CES! We had constant crowds, and even private tours showing up to take a look at our RoboRoach, the world’s first commercially available cyborg!
We hope you enjoyed CES… we know we did! Whether you are new to BYB or are a long-time fan, we sincerely thank you for taking the time to stop by our booth and participate in some hands-on neuroscience! This was a new conference for us and we were not sure what to expect… turns out we were so slammed with crowds that people had to try multiple times to get in and see demos! Thanks for your enthusiasm and support, we’ll definitely be back next year! In the meantime, be sure to keep checking the blog and wander over to our Products Page to see what we’re up to!
Our RoboRoach proved to be incredibly novel and intriguing for attendees at CES… We didn’t double check with every booth, but we’re fairly certain we were showing off the only real cyborg at CES! We had constant crowds, and even private tours showing up to take a look at our 
We hope you enjoyed CES… we know we did! Whether you are new to BYB or are a long-time fan, we sincerely thank you for taking the time to stop by our booth and participate in some hands-on neuroscience! This was a new conference for us and we were not sure what to expect… turns out we were so slammed with crowds that people had to try multiple times to get in and see demos! Thanks for your enthusiasm and support, we’ll definitely be back next year! In the meantime, be sure to keep checking the blog and wander over to our 