"Professional Research Assistant"

Job Summary

The applicant who is selected for this position will be part of a team of engineers and researchers conducting research and development (R&D) activities focused on accelerating the development and deployment of real-world test methodology to evaluate communications protocols in Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) for first responder solutions.

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Professional Research Experience Program (PREP). NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest and thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Who We Are

PREP is a special partnership between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder. PREP provides research opportunities to CU undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers with a Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in NIST labs to gain research experience alongside NIST scientists.

The particular group that needs a researcher is the Public Safety Communications Research Division - HQ under the Public Safety Communications Research Division at NIST.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

• Conduct a literature review and document criteria for drone communications simulator solutions and the datasets that are used to train and test them.
• Prepare industry landscape identifying long-range communications, mesh networking, and best practices on developing methodologies of communications technologies.
• Develop a software program for a new drone communications simulator platform or to retrofit an existing platform, integrating radio hardware communications components.
• Develop open-source code and processes.
• Create and collect measurement data for the drone simulator.
• Document the dataset curation process for public use and determine the target public safety datasets and dataset enhancement options.
• Participate in public safety working groups and stakeholder testing to compare simulations with live UAS flights and curate shared information from collaborators.
• Evaluate drone simulator use cases and what datasets could be used to train and test them, as well as identify technology challenges and gaps to address.

What We Can Offer

• The salary range for this full-time position is $54,000 - $65,000 annually.
• Onboarding/relocation assistance may be available, however, if within a 12-month period you exercise your right to willfully terminate your employment with the University of Colorado, you hereby agree to reimburse the department for your relocation expense.

Benefits

At the University of Colorado Boulder, we are committed to supporting the holistic health and well-being of our employees. Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, and retirement plans; generous paid time off; tuition assistance for you and your dependents; and an ECO Pass for local transit. As one of Boulder County’s largest employers, CU Boulder offers an inspiring academic community and access to world-class outdoor recreation. Explore additional perks and programs through the CU Advantage program.

Be Statements

Be ambitious. Be pioneering. Be Boulder.

What We Require

• A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or a related field.

What We Would Like You to Have

• Knowledge of network communications, network routing, and radio signaling.
• Knowledge of robotics, UAS, or autonomous software programming (PX4, ArduPilot, AirSim, MAVLink).
• Knowledge of software engineering for virtual simulation applications.
• Experience with modern AI tools and applications (AWS, GCP, Azure, MLFlow, SQL, BigQuery, Snowflake).
• Experience with development and manipulation of software code, such as Python, C, C++, Qt, JavaScript.
• Knowledge of data structures, formats, and software coding curation processes.
• Experience with developing open-source code, identifying use cases, and evaluating dataset quality and representativeness.
• Knowledge of mathematical probability and statistics, and optimization methods.
• Knowledge of machine learning, including supervised and unsupervised learning, deep learning, and model evaluation.
• Knowledge of dataset biases and labeling issues.
• Knowledge of translating operational needs into solvable radio signal or networking problems.

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials:

1. Resume or CV
2. Cover letter addressed to the Search Committee briefly describing your qualifications, professional goals, and specific interest in this position.

If you are selected as the finalist, your degree will be verified by the CU Boulder Campus Human Resources Department using an approved online vendor. If your degree was obtained outside of the United States, please submit a translated version as an optional attachment.

During the application process, you will need to enter contact information for a reference who will be contacted to provide a letter of recommendation immediately after you apply.

Review of applications will begin immediately and remain open until January 9th, 2026.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, applications must be submitted through CU Boulder Jobs.

In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.