Join Us

We welcome enthusiastic, computationally minded people interested in understanding vision and advancing sight restoration for people living with blindness. We especially value people who know what they want to learn, take initiative, and follow projects through to completion.

Before reaching out, please check our Lab Manual.

PhD Positions (Fall 2027)

We expect to recruit one or two PhD students for Fall 2027 through Computer Science (Dec 16), Psychological & Brain Sciences (Dec 1), or Dynamical Neuroscience (DYNS) (Dec 1).

Our current priorities are:

Visual neuroprostheses / phosphene modeling: computational models that predict and control percepts produced by electrical stimulation (see Moure et al., 2026).
Low vision / visual psychophysics: active vision, gaze-contingent simulation, and visual rehabilitation (see Johnson et al., 2026).
NeuroXR: neural interfaces, perceptual augmentation, and VR/AR/MR for studying vision and behavior (see Beyeler, 2025).

If you contact us before applying, please explain specifically how your background and research interests connect to one of these directions. Generic inquiries or descriptions of unrelated prior work are unlikely to receive a response.

We’ll be at SfN ‘26! Yuchen, Hannah, Nora, and Karolina will be presenting posters. If you’re thinking about joining the lab, stop by, check out their work, and say hello. They’re the best people to ask what working in our lab is actually like.

Because we receive a large volume of prospective-student inquiries, we are unable to respond to every individual message. We do read inquiries from prospective PhD students, but generally respond only when there appears to be an especially strong match with our current openings and research directions. Lack of a response should not be interpreted as discouragement from applying through the normal UCSB admissions process.

Prospective Postdocs

We do not currently have a funded postdoctoral opening, but we are interested in hearing from strong candidates whose research aligns closely with the lab. If you expect to graduate within the next year and see a strong fit with our work, please reach out early so we can discuss potential projects and explore fellowship opportunities together (e.g., PPFP).

Junior Lab Trainees

For UCSB undergraduates, the Junior Lab Trainee program is the main entry point into the lab. Trainees attend bi-weekly paper discussions and participate reliably in ongoing behavioral studies (XR, psychophysics, and so on). Successful completion of a quarter as a Junior Trainee is often a prerequisite for becoming a Senior Research Assistant, although promotion is not guaranteed.

We accept a limited cohort each quarter. To be considered, please join our waitlist. If you already have specialized research experience, you may indicate interest in a Senior RA role on the form.

All Other Positions

We are currently at capacity for Senior RAs and Master’s students, and cannot accommodate summer interns, high school students, or remote projects.

This page was last updated on October 14, 2026.

Selfie of seven researchers wearing conference name badges, standing in front of rows of red auditorium seats. From left to right, back to front: Dan Adams, Eduardo Fernandez, Xing Chen, Frederik Ceyssens, Michael Beyeler, Jan Antolik, and Antonio Lozano. — At the Fall Vision Meeting with Dan Adams, Eduardo Fernandez, Xing Chen, Frederik Ceyssens, Antonio Lozano, and Jan Antolik.

Byron Johnson gestures while explaining a poster titled “Central Vision Loss Worsens Scene Understanding and Increases Eye Movement Variability” to Geoff Boynton and another attendee in the Banyan Breezeway at VSS. — Byron Johnson presenting at VSS.

About a dozen lab members, several in Bionic Vision Lab T-shirts, pose under string lights and a banner reading “Congratulations! Dr. Michael Beyeler, 2024-25 UCSB Plous Award Recipient.” From left to right: Roksana Sadeghi, Justin Kasowski, Byron Johnson, Apurv Varshney, Galen Pogoncheff, Lily Turkstra, Prof. Beyeler with Julian, Emily Joyce, Jacob Granley, Marius Schneider, Yuchen Hou, and Hannah Stone. — The Bionic Vision Lab celebrating Prof. Beyeler's Plous Award.

Eight lab members with conference name badges stand together in a hotel ballroom at The Eye and the Chip World Congress on Artificial Vision. From left to right: Byron Johnson, Lucas Nadolskis, Jacob Granley, Apurv Varshney, Prof. Beyeler, Galen Pogoncheff, Lily Turkstra, and Yuchen Hou. — The Bionic Vision Lab at The Eye and The Chip 2023.

On the commencement stage, Profs. El Abbadi and Beyeler in academic regalia place a doctoral hood over Justin Kasowski’s shoulders, the first graduate from the Bionic Vision Lab (2023). — Dr. Justin Kasowski getting hooded at the 2023 Commencement Ceremony.

An Argus II user wearing the system’s camera glasses and a face mask sits at a table with a touchscreen showing a traced curved line; researcher Byron Johnson sits across the table. — Argus II user drawing a perceived phosphene on a touchscreen.

Seven panelists sit at a long table between two moderators at podiums, beneath a projected slide for The Eye and the Chip 13th World Research Congress. From left to right: Gislin Dagnelie at the podium, Ralf Hornig, Mahi Muqit, Avi Caspi, Uday Patel, Michael Beyeler, Eduardo Fernandez, Phil Troyk, and Mohit Shivdasani at the other podium. — Prof. Beyeler on a panel with prosthesis experts at The Eye and The Chip 2023.

Bionic Vision Lab cake designed by Tori LeVier.

Jacob Granley smiles beside a poster titled “Hybrid Neural Autoencoders for Stimulus Encoding in Visual and Other Sensory Neuroprostheses” in the NeurIPS 2022 poster hall. — Jacob Granley presenting at NeurIPS 2022.

Galen Pogoncheff wears a virtual reality headset and holds a hand controller in the lab while colleagues work at computers in the background. — Galen Pogoncheff using the BionicVisionXR simulator.

Three people float on a sofa in calm ocean water under an overcast evening sky. — Students drifting off into the sunset after a hard day's work.

In a crowded conference room, Prof. Beyeler, seen from behind, talks with a group of attendees while a participant wearing a virtual reality headset points into the air. — Prof. Beyeler demoing BionicVisionXR at VSS 2023.

Gold-glitter Statue of Liberty figurine covered in macaroni, holding up a saucepan instead of a torch, on a base labeled “Mac + Cheese Champ.” Tent cards around it standing for the anonymous competition entries are named after visual prostheses: PolyRetina, Alpha-AMS, Orion, Argus, and Cortivis. — Mac and cheese trophy for first-place winner Lily Turkstra at the lab's first mac and cheese cook-off.

Seven lab members smile around a round dining table with a lemon-print tablecloth and plates of mac and cheese, several raising forks (ca. 2022). From left to right: Justin Kasowski, Galen Pogoncheff, Apurv Varshney, Lily Turkstra, Prof. Beyeler, Jacob Granley, and Byron Johnson. — The Bionic Vision Lab at the mac and cheese cook-off.

Aiwen Xu, in blue doctoral robes, smiles as two faculty members place the doctoral hood. — Dr. Aiwen Xu getting hooded at the 2024 Commencement Ceremony.