Assistant​/Associate​/Researcher - Machine Learning Models - AdvancedBioimaging Center - Dep

Position overview

Position title:Assistant/Associate/Full Researcher
Salary range:The UC academic salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and step  the following table for the current salary scale for this position: . A reasonable estimate for this position is $199,700- $357,200.
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.

Open date: February 26, 2026

Next review date: Thursday, Mar 12, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Saturday, Mar 28, 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.

The Advanced Bio Imaging Center (ABC) in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley seeks applications for a Professional Researcher at the Assistant, Associate, or Full rank. The selected candidate will be appointed at the rank to commensurate with prior experience. The position will report to Professor Gokul Upadhyayula, with Professor Eric Betzig serving as an additional academic mentor.

The researcher will conduct independent research at a level comparable to the Professor series.

The Advanced Bio Imaging 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.

Members of the ABC have access to leading - edge imaging and computing hardware, as well as exposure to collaborators from a range of diverse disciplines, including in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Mathematics, and more.

This position will focus on advanced, independent research leading the ABC computational team to develop vision-transformer-based foundation machine learning models. The Researcher will work closely with an interdisciplinary team of optical physicists, engineers, and computational imaging researchers to achieve the ambitious goal of creating a generative AI model for segmenting and querying complex 4D high-resolution data of zebrafish development. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to advancing biological imaging and AI-driven data analysis at the intersection of biology and computational science.

As this project grows, the individual will be expected to expand their leadership and adapt to the evolving scope of the research. The role will begin with leading efforts to supervise data collection and management, model development, and collaborating with leadership across the center. The researcher will build and manage a team of data scientists, and computational biologists to test AI-driven imaging models and will facilitate scientific collaborations with local, domestic, and international researchers.

This position will take on a growing role and contribute to a groundbreaking initiative in biological imaging.

• Conduct and design independent research and lead a team of data scientists and software engineers to enable the development of state-of-the-art AI models for light sheet microscopy data.
• Collaborate with experts in optical physics, engineering, and computational imaging to support a foundational AI model for high-resolution developmental biology data.
• Conduct and lead experimental design, data acquisition, and data analysis pipelines to ensure optimal data quality.
• Facilitate and maintain scientific collaborations with local, domestic, and international researchers as the project expands.
• Publish research findings in high-impact journals and presenting at scientific conferences.
• Supervise and mentor graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, staff scientists, and academic research titles involved in machine learning and biological data analysis.
• Lead the development of new AI models and data processing tools for datasets generated on multicellular tissues, organoids, transparent embryos.
• Oversee the design and development of new machine learning tools for petabyte-scale light sheet datasets that are typically 4D or 5D (x,y,z,t,chemistry).
• Advise on applications of these tools for biological imaging;…