Jonathan Kao
Associate Professor
Builds brain-computer interfaces, AI copilots and robot learning systems, and uses deep learning to study cortical computation.
Jonathan Kao's lab at UCLA works on neuroscience & brain-computer interfaces, manipulation & robot learning and interfaces & interaction techniques. 23 papers since 2023, 16 at top venues, mostly NeurIPS and Nature Communications. 9 PhD students and 3 master's students. 30 alumni, most often to Amazon and Samsung. Applications close .
At a glance
- papers, 2023–2026
- 6/ year
- at T1 venues
- 70%
- PhD students
- 9
- MS students
- 3
- alumni listed
- 30
Papers by yearfrom the lab homepage, 2023–2026
- 5 papers2026 · T1 5 · collecting
- 11 papers2025 · T1 5
- 4 papers2024 · T1 4
- 3 papers2023 · T1 2
T1 venuesOtherVenues: NeurIPS, Nature Communications, CoRL, Nature, HRI
Research focuspaper titles that use each topic's words
- Neuroscience & brain-computer interfaces2 papers
- Manipulation & robot learning2 papers
- brain-computer1 paper
- Interfaces & interaction techniques0 papers
- uses deep0 papers
Paper list
From the lab homepage.
20265 papers
- HRI (T1)DiSCo: Diffusion Sequence Copilots for Shared Autonomy
- CoRL (T1)Flow Control: Steering Vision–Language–Action Models with Simple Real-Time Inputs
- Interspeech (T1)LightBeam: An Accurate and Memory-Efficient CTC Decoder for Speech Neuroprostheses
- Nature Communications (T1)Spurious alignment between large language models and brains can emerge from non-robust methods and overlooked confounds
- CoRL (T1)Steering Autoregressive Vision-Language-Action Policies via Action Token Intervention
202511 papers
- Nature Machine Intelligence (T1)Brain-computer interface control with artificial intelligence copilots
- iScienceComplementary cortical and striatal encoding of locomotor preparation and performance (opens in a new tab)
- NeurIPSspotlightFlattening Hierarchies with Policy Bootstrapping
- RSS WorkshopIntent at a Glance: Gaze-Guided Robotic Manipulation via Foundation Models
- Nature (T1)Inter-brain neural dynamics in biological and artificial intelligence systems
- Scientific ReportsMultiregional representations of intertemporal decision making in human single neurons
- Science (T1)Neural basis of cooperative behavior in biological and artificial intelligence systems
- NeurIPS (T1)SplashNet: Split-and-Share Encoders for Accurate and Efficient Typing with Surface Electromyography
- PainSpontaneous pain dynamics characterized by stochasticity in neural recordings of awake humans with chronic pain
- NeurIPS (T1)Time-Masked Transformers with Lightweight Test-Time Adaptation for Neural Speech Decoding
- IEEE EMBCUsing reinforcement learning to investigate neural dynamics during motor learning
20244 papers
- Nature Communications (T1)Control of feeding by a bottom-up midbrain–subthalamic pathway
- NeurIPS (T1)Reciprocal reward influence encourages cooperation from self-interested agents
- NeurIPS (T1)Shared autonomy with IDA: Interventional Diffusion Assistance
- Nature (T1)Volatile working memory representations crystallize with practice
20233 papers
- eLifeA cortical information bottleneck during decision-making
- Nature Communications (T1)A pilot study of closed-loop neuromodulation for treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder
- NeurIPS (T1)Gács–Körner common information variational autoencoder
Where alumni went30 listed, 83% to industry
Industry 5Academia 1
Most often to
- Amazon
- Samsung
Also to
- Stanford University
Apply to UCLAFall 2027
Computer Science PhD
- Round
- Single round (Dec 15)
- Opens
- —
- GRE
- optional
- English
- See program page
- Fee
- See program page
Not yet confirmed for this intake.
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- The lab homepage
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