Software Scientist / Research Software Engineer

Villigen PSI

Key information

Publication date:12 January 2026
Workload:100%
Contract type:Permanent position
Place of work:Villigen PSI

Job summary

Join PSI, Switzerland's leading research institute for natural and engineering sciences. It's a great opportunity for innovative minds in a supportive environment.

Tasks

Develop and support high-level measurement orchestration software for experiments.
Facilitate collaboration between scientists and specialists across various disciplines.
Enhance GUIs, tools, and libraries for ongoing and future projects.

Skills

PhD in natural science, computer science, engineering, or equivalent experience.
Proven expertise in Python and high-quality scientific software development.
Strong communication skills and ability to work in a team-oriented environment.

Is this helpful?

The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI is the largest research institute for natural and engineering sciences within Switzerland. We perform cutting-edge research in the fields of future technologies, energy and climate, health innovation and fundamentals of nature. By performing fundamental and applied research, we work on sustainable solutions for major challenges facing society, science and economy. PSI is committed to the training of future generations. Therefore, about one quarter of our staff are post-docs, post-graduates or apprentices. Altogether, PSI employs 2300 people.

Join the multidisciplinary team of the Science IT Infrastructure and Services (AWI) department to use your Python experience and love for research to enable cutting edge science as a

Your tasks

Develop, maintain and support the high-level measurement orchestration software for experiments at the Swiss Light Source (SLS): BEC (Beamline Experiment Control) and the BEC Widgets GUI framework

Enable time-critical experiments by supporting scientists before, during, and after measurements in using, extending and integrating new functionalities into the existing system

Act as translator and facilitator between scientists and specialists across a wide range of disciplines bridging gaps in terms of collaborative discussions and code development

Contribute expertise to ongoing and future projects by improving GUIs, tools and libraries, including upstream open-source projects

Collaborate closely with scientists and expert groups across PSI as well as colleagues from other national and international institutions

Your profile

PhD degree in natural science, computer science, engineering or mathematics, or equivalent professional experience

Proven expertise in developing high-quality scientific-software solutions in Python, following best practices (version control, CI/CD, testing, documentation)

Experience with GUI toolkits (especially Qt), intuitive GUI/UX design and web-app development using modern frameworks

Previous exposure to large-scale control systems (especially EPICS) and hardware integration therein

Interest in AI tooling for software engineering and development workflows

Willingness to occasionally travel to workshops and conferences, as well as flexibility in working hours if required by project deadlines or incident response

Strong communication skills, team-oriented mindset, fluent in English (spoken and written), and speaking German or willingness to learn

We offer

Our institution is based on an interdisciplinary, innovative and dynamic collaboration. You will profit from a systematic training on the job, in addition to personal development possibilities and our pronounced vocational training culture. If you wish to optimally combine work and family life or other personal interests, we are able to support you with our modern employment conditions and the on-site infrastructure.

This is a permanent position.

For further information, please contact Sven Augustin, E-Mail schreiben.

Please submit your application online by 8 February 2026 for the position as a Software Scientist / Research Software Engineer (Index-Nr.7901-25888).

Paul Scherrer Institute, Human Resources Management, Adrian Kirsch, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland

www.psi.ch