"Assistant Specialist - Dept of EECS - University of California, Berkeley"

Position overview

Position title: Specialist Researcher

Salary range: The UC academic salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and step at appointment. See the following table(s) for the current salary scale(s) for this position: UC Salary Scales. The current full time base salary range for this position is $63,500 - $70,700. 'Off-scale' salaries, which yield compensation that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions.

Percent time: 100%

Anticipated start: January 2026

Position duration: One year, with possibility of an extension depending on performance and availability of funding.

Application Window

Open date: December 1, 2025

Most recent review date: Tuesday, Dec 16, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications received after this date will be reviewed by the search committee if the position has not yet been filled.

Final date: Wednesday, Dec 31, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position description

The position is based in Prof. Sanjit Seshia's lab in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) department at UC Berkeley. The Seshia lab aims to develop techniques to ensure that computational systems are provably safe, secure, and trustworthy. The Seshia group addresses this topic by developing theory and tools of formal methods, which are mathematical techniques to model, design, and verify systems using computational proof engines. The lab's work has been applied to improving the safety, security, and dependability of software, hardware, distributed systems, AI/ML, robotics, cyber-physical systems, and biological systems, impacting societal-scale applications in several domains including cloud computing, transportation, healthcare, and education.

A particular focus area for this position is the formal modeling and generation of operating environments of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems. His group developed a probabilistic programming language called Scenic whose syntax and semantics are designed to model and generate physical scenarios involving stochastic, multi-agent, reactive behaviors of the real world. This language has been used to train and evaluate certain properties of autonomous and semi-autonomous cyber-physical systems in simulation.

The position is a part of a fast-paced project for supporting the Scenic open-source project and for using the Scenic language in extended reality (XR), spanning virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, to train both humans and robots to collaborate. We are looking for someone with strong background in XR development and in programming frameworks such as Scenic in multi-player settings to prototype virtual environments where humans and robots can virtually interact with each other. The position will also involve supporting the Scenic project in various ways including the website, supporting the Scenic open-source community, etc.

The job responsibilities will be as follows:

1. Assist with developing an XR-based system consisting of a XR app and XR headset, which synthesizes Scenic programs from a user's description and demonstration of collaborative physical activities. The system needs to provide interfaces for the user to inspect and correct the system's learning of the user's behaviors.
2. Help build a supporting tool to train and evaluate humans and robots to collaborate using the synthesized Scenic programs.
3. Conduct user studies to validate the effectiveness of the system, and iteratively improve it based on the evaluation.
4. Support the Scenic open-source project in various roles including maintaining the web site and other infrastructure for the Scenic project.

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)
Bachelor's degree or equivalent international degree at the time of application.

Preferred qualifications

• Masters degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Extensive experience programming in the Python programming language.
• Experience with extended reality (virtual, augmented, mixed reality) systems.
• Experience with the Scenic probabilistic programming language and web development is highly recommended.

Application Requirements

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Cover Letter

Reference requirements

• 3 required (contact information only)

Job location

Berkeley, CA