Student Research Assistant in Unity Frontend & LLM Backend Development for Digital Einstein

ETH Zurich; Zürich; On-site; CHF 13,000 - 20,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Mentoring

Hands-on experience

International team

Job summary

ETH Zurich's Digital Character AI team at the Computer Graphics Laboratory seeks a Student Research Assistant to support interactive AI avatar platforms across Unity frontend and LLM-based backend.

The role involves developing the Unity frontend and the Python/LLM backend, testing and improving system latency, and providing on-site event support. Expect weekly team meetings and a workload of ~15 hours per week during the semester.

Qualifications

• Enrolled student with strong programming background.
• Experience with Unity and Python is required or highly desirable.
• Interest in LLMs, prompting, and dialogue systems is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the Unity frontend for the Digital Einstein platform, including UI components, interaction flows, character behaviours, and real-time rendering features.
• Develop and maintain the Python/LLM backend for interactive conversations and backend services.
• Test and improve reliability, latency, and overall interaction quality of the system.
• Provide on-site support at events and demonstrations.
• Participate in weekly team meetings (1–2 hours) to discuss progress and plan next steps.
• Workload: approximately 15 hours/week during the semester.

Skills

Unity

C#

Python

LLM APIs

Teamwork

Education

Enrolled student (ETH Zurich or Swiss university)

Tools

Git

Job description

The Digital Character AI team at ETH Zurich's Computer Graphics Laboratory is looking for a Student Research Assistant to support the development of our interactive AI avatar platforms across both the Unity frontend and the LLM-based backend. Our work focuses on lifelike digital humans powered by large language models, affective computing, speech technologies, and real-time rendering. Our systems have been deployed at high-profile international events such as the World Economic Forum, Berlin Science Week, and GITEX. You can learn more about the Digital Einstein project here.

Project background

Digital Einstein is an AI avatar platform that brings Albert Einstein to life as an interactive conversational agent. The system combines a Unity-based frontend for real-time character rendering, animation, and interaction with a Python-based backend that orchestrates large language models, dialogue management, speech processing, memory, and other AI components. We are currently extending the platform to additional interactive digital characters. We are looking for a student assistant who can contribute across the complete system -from Unity-based user experiences and character interaction to LLM-driven dialogue and backend services.

Job description

• Develop and maintain the Unity frontend for the Digital Einstein platform, including UI components, interaction flows, character behaviours, and real-time rendering features
• Develop and maintain the Python/LLM backend for interactive conversations, including the integration and evaluation of large language models and related AI services
• Test and improve the reliability, latency, and overall interaction quality of the system
• On-site support at selected events and demonstrations
• Participate in weekly team meetings (1-2 hours) to discuss progress and plan next steps
• Workload: approximately 15 hours/week during the semester, with the possibility of working more during semester breaks

Profile

• Enrolled student at ETH Zurich or another Swiss university
• Strong programming skills and practical software-development experience
• Experience with Unity and C#
• Experience with Python
• Experience with or strong interest in large language models, including LLM APIs, prompting, agentic systems, or dialogue systems
• Reliable, proactive, and comfortable working independently as well as in a team
• Willingness to provide occasional on-site event support, including on weekends
• German language skills are a plus

We offer

• Hands-on experience with a high-profile AI avatar platform showcased at international events (World Economic Forum, GITEX, and others)
• Exposure to a cutting-edge research environment spanning real-time graphics, large language models, and affective computing
• Regular 1-on-1 mentoring and weekly team meetings
• Collaborative, international team at ETH Zurich's Computer Graphics Laboratory

Working, teaching and research at ETH Zurich

We value diversity and sustainability

In line with our values, ETH Zurich encourages an inclusive culture. We promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and nurture a working and learning environment in which the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Visit our Equal Opportunities and Diversity website to find out how we ensure a fair and open environment that allows everyone to grow and flourish. Sustainability is a core value for us – we are consistently working towards a climate-neutral future.

About ETH Zürich

ETH Zurich is one of the world's leading universities specialising inscience and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education,cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledgeinto society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find ouruniversity to be a place that promotes independent thinking and anenvironment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe,yet forging connections all over the world, we work together todevelop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.