About ACU Research Institute

 

ACU Research Institute is an independent, early-stage research lab exploring the convergence of Attention, Consciousness, and Computation. We build AI-powered products, publish open research, and ship real systems at the frontier of intelligent agents.

This is a founder-led operation. Small team, high autonomy, equity-heavy. If you want structure and a 401k, this isn’t it. If you want to find patterns no one else has seen, keep reading.

 

Position Overview

 

We are seeking a Junior Data Scientist / Researcher to work on data-driven research at the intersection of AI, information retrieval, and pattern discovery.

This is not a dashboarding job. You’ll be digging into datasets, finding patterns no one has formalized yet, and building systems that surface hidden insights.

Job Type: Full-time, Contract or Permanent

Location: Remote

 

Key Responsibilities

 

  • Analyze structured and unstructured datasets to extract meaningful patterns
  • Build and evaluate machine learning models for classification, recommendation, and anomaly detection
  • Design experiments and validate hypotheses with statistical rigor
  • Work with RAG systems to improve retrieval quality and relevance scoring
  • Write up findings clearly – we publish our research

 

Qualifications & Attributes

 

  • Strong foundations in statistics, probability, and linear algebra
  • Proficiency in Python (pandas, numpy, scikit-learn, matplotlib)
  • Experience with data cleaning, feature engineering, and exploratory analysis
  • Ability to read and implement techniques from academic papers
  • Clear written communication – if you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it

 

Nice to Have

 

  • Experience with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow)
  • Experience with Hugging Face models and ecosystem
  • Background in NLP, information retrieval, or knowledge graphs
  • Familiarity with vector databases and embedding spaces
  • Understanding of Calculus of Variations
  • Experience with graph algorithms and graph-based data structures
  • Published research or writing (blog posts, papers, technical reports)

 

What We Offer

 

  • Work on real research problems, not vanity metrics
  • Direct collaboration with the founding team
  • Flexible, remote-first environment
  • Equity participation for the right candidate

 

How to Apply

 

Send an email to davidkwokhochan@gmail.com with:

  1. A brief intro – who you are, what you’re curious about
  2. A link to your GitHub, portfolio, or a project that shows how you think
  3. Why this role interests you

No recruiters. No HR screens. Just a conversation.

 

Application Questions

 

  • What’s a dataset or research question that kept you up at night?
  • What’s the last technical rabbit hole you went down voluntarily?
  • If you had unlimited data and compute for one week, what would you investigate?