Junior/Assistant/Associate/Full Specialist Biological Science - Advanced Bioimaging Center Department of Molecular and Cell Biology

Position overview

Position title: Junior/Assistant/Associate/Full Specialist

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: https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2025-26/represented-july-2025-scales/t24-b.pdf. The current full-time base salary range for this position is $55,000 - 194,800. '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: Winter/Spring 2026

Position duration: Initial appointment is for one year with the possibility of renewal based on performance and funding availability.

Application Window

Open date: February 25, 2026

Next review date: Friday, May 15, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Friday, May 29, 2026 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 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley seeks applications for up to three Junior/Assistant/Associate/Full Specialist positions in the Upadhyayula Lab, in the area of Biological Science.

The Advanced BioImaging Center (ABC) at UC Berkeley aspires to be a world leading multidisciplinary imaging center that drives important biological discoveries through critical new advances in all aspects of imaging technology and that drives the dissemination of that technology through a multi-pronged education strategy to scientists around the world. ABC was intentionally designed to maximize scientific productivity and impact by adopting groundbreaking imaging technologies such as the next-generation adaptive optical multifunctional microscope, incorporating the high-level technical expertise of instrumentation scientists , applied mathematicians, and computational scientists, and building worldwide collaborations aimed at tackling the challenges posed by terabyte and petabyte-scale imaging data processing, visualization, and dissemination. You will have access to leading - edge imaging and computing hardware, as well as exposure to the Bay Area's brightest minds from a range of diverse disciplines, including in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Mathematics, and more.

The positions involve close collaboration on a number of new and ongoing empirical projects in the fields of microscopy and data analysis. The incumbent will work on tera-to-petabyte scale research data and will have the opportunity to gain exposure to and training with a broad set of research topics and methodologies. The roles exercise judgment within generally defined practices and policies in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions.

The duties of the positions include:

• Operate and maintain the next generation multi-functional adaptive optical microscope(s) and other pre-commercial optical microscopes.
• Develop new imaging and data processing tools
• Assist with data acquisition using advance pre-commercial microscopy systems to image biological samples ranging from cells in culture, such as bacteria, mammalian cells, and organoids to intact organisms, such as zebrafish or mice, etc.
• Be involved in the applications of these tools for biological imaging; collaborate with Postdocs and graduate students on specific projects to test, learn and implement for general and specific use cases.
• Be an integral part of the expert team working together with computational scientists and biologists in experimental design to tackle complex biological questions in a quantitative manner.
• Train and assist students and researchers in the use of software applications
• Train and assist users with their imaging or data processing tasks.
• May supervise undergraduate students.
• General organization and management of software documentation.

Lab: https://abc.berkeley.edu/

Contract: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/resources/employment-policies-contracts/bargaining-units/academic-researchers/contract/

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)
Bachelor's degree (or equivalent international degree) or enrollment in a Bachelor's (or equivalent international degree) program.

Additional qualifications (required at time of start)
Bachelor's degree (or equivalent international degree)

Preferred qualifications
Degree field of molecular & cell biology, computational biology, computer science, math, physics or related field.
Research experience in computational biology, computer science, math, physics or related field.
Experience with programming (C++, Labview, MATLAB, python).
Experience with design, documentation, testing and implementation of high performance software for image processing.
Experience with CI/CD for software deployment.
Experience developing software for tera-to petabyte scale imaging applications.
Ability to work on a number of projects simultaneously.
Organized and attentive to detail.
Strong written and oral communication skills.
Interest in learning new techniques.
Upper division course in genetics is strongly preferred.
Coursework in molecular biology and biochemistry.
Proficiency in bioinformatics.
Computational analysis of datasets.
Basic molecular biology techniques.
Ability to design and interpret experiments.
Ability to prepare figures for manuscripts.
Demonstrated proficiency to work as part of a research team.

Application Requirements

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Cover Letter
• Statement of Research (Optional)

Reference requirements

• 3 required (contact information only)