Opportunities to join the Agile Systems Lab
(Prof. Sponberg's group in physics and biological sciences @ GT)
Specific positions will be posted below as they arise.
However, we always welcome inquires from undergrads, graduate students, and postdocs with backgrounds in neuroscience, physics, physiology, biomechanics, or engineering interested in studying agile systems!
Research Technician
Simon Sponberg's lab is seeking a Research Technician to start late Spring or early Summer 2027. Candidates are typically post-baccalaureates and often make the transition from this post to a PhD. The technician must perform several essential duties in the lab such as managing a moth colony, ordering lab supplies, and maintaining the lab environment. The research technician spends the majority of their time conducting research and collaborating with graduate students and postdocs on various projects in the lab. The opportunity serves as an excellent way to get more research experience and academic advisement for preparing for graduate school. The lab will accept a variety of academic backgrounds for this position such as but not limited to biology, physics, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, mathematics, and computer science. The newly-hired research technician will overlap with the existing research technician for training and making a smooth transition.
Application information: Interested candidates should send a CV, and a short statement about background, goals, and research interests to Simon Sponberg via email (sponberg@gatech.edu). Questions about the position can be directed to me as well.
Information about the lab: Sponberg's group, the Agile Systems Lab, (https://sponberg.gatech.edu/) is part of both the physics and biological sciences schools at Georgia Tech. We strive to create an inclusive community that includes a wide range of personal identities, cultures, and experiences all brought together by a shared curiosity in how organisms achieve diverse forms of movement in complicated, uncertain environments. We are part of Georgia Tech's Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) community, a neighborhood of 10 lab groups across biophysics with ~50 students and postdocs and supported by an NSF Student Research Network grant. We are also part of the large neuroscience and neuroengineering community with over 100 labs at GT and more in the surrounding Atlanta area. We are also part of the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Machines and the Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience. The Agile Systems lab has students and postdocs from physics, comparative biology, neuroscience, and engineering backgrounds and broadly studies the physical and physiological mechanisms that enable agile movement in living systems, with an emphasis on flight and running at the centimeter scale. Atlanta is a vibrant international city located in the northwestern part of Georgia near the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains. It has a diverse population, high quality of life, and a moderate cost of living compared to most other major metropolitan areas in the US.
Contact Simon
Who should apply and what to expect
The science of movement is inherently interdisciplinary. No one field holds all the answers. We seek students from a variety of backgrounds from physics to biology to engineering. Emphasis will be placed on creating a strong interdisciplinary team where each individual has established research domains, but benefits from the multidisciplinary environment. Students with interests and skills in any of the following may find a good fit with the lab:
- Physics of living systems
- Neuroethology
- Comparative biomechanics -- especially motor control
- Active soft matter
- Muscle physiology
- Electrophysiology -- especially in intact, behaving animals
- Computational neuroscience or neurophysics
- Experimental fluid mechanics
- Classical dynamic systems
- Control theory and system identification of biological/bio-inspired systems
- Robophysics and experimental robotics
How to apply
The first step is making contact. E-mail Simon. Please include a brief description of your background and research interests.
Specific opportunities & funding
The Sponberg Lab has regular openings for graduate students and postdocs. Please refer to the postings at the top of this page, but things may be a little out of date so feel free to contact Simon. Some of the specific areas of interest we are looking for are the following:
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The originals of precision in the timing codes for motor control especially during fast, agile behaviors.
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Coordination and organization of the motor program across many muscles during locomotion, with an particularly emphasis on information theory, controls, and system identification.
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The multiscale physics of muscle -- muscle function during perturbed, periodic motion and the properties of the contractile machinery that enables multifunctionality.
All students and postdocs are encouraged to write individual fellowships. If you are interested in teaming with the lab to target an such an opportunity, please contact me. Other opportunities and sources of funding may also be available. We encourage prospective students and postdocs interested in the lab to reach out.
Affiliated academic programs
Professor Sponberg can formally advise graduate students in the following programs:
Advising is also possible through the other engineering and science schools at Georgia Tech on a case-by-case basis. Undergraduates from any discipline are welcome if their interests align with the lab and they are eager to contribute.
Foundations
We have three conceptual foundations: Neuroscience -- the computations and mechanisms underlying how animals acquire, process and act upon information, Biomechanics -- the analysis of animals’ mechanics and the physical structures than enable movement, and Muscle Biophysics -- the study of how muscles transform the electrical signals of the nervous system into force, strain, and work. These foundations are tied together by the theme of studying the Physics of Living Systems.
What animals do we work with?
Much of the lab’s work relies on invertebrates, particularly insects, because of their robust behaviors, tractable electrophysiological signals (e.g. discrete patterns of neural and muscular activation), general accessibility, and the fundamental idea that despite being quite tiny systems, they realize a wide diversity of forms and behaviors. While future work will likely take advantage of these systems, the lab is not organism specific. We apply the principle of using systems that are advantageous in their extreme behavior, experimental tractability, or comparative perspective (Krogh, 1929). As we move towards a maturing of the integrative science of movement at the whole organism level, we will turn to whatever system allows us to best understanding the physics and physiology of locomotion.
Our tools and techniques
- High-speed imaging and real-time motion capture
- Multielectrode recording rigs for small brain and descending neuron recordings
- Sharp electrode recording rigs for single neuron recordings
- Virtual realty behavior arenas including electrophysiology
- Low-speed wind tunnel for small animal flight in laminar and unsteady flows
- Micro-implantation and instrumentation facilities
- Electrophysiology rigs for tethered preparations
- Dynamic material characterization of muscles
- Rapid prototyping
- Computational resources
- Time-resolved, small angle x-ray diffraction through living muscle tissue
(via trips to the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Labs)