Assistant Research Scientist; PREP

Assistant Research Scientist (PREP
0003596)

Requisition #: A-170755-26

Status:
Full Time

Type:
Faculty

School:
Whiting School of Engineering

Department/Program:
Commercial and Government Programs Office

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, 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.

Research

Title:

Optimizing NIST AI enabled data discovery and accessibility

The work will entail:

• The researcher will participate in developing AI enabled tools which can enhance the user experience to search domain specific data.
• After initial understating current Public data repository (PDR) system, APIs, metadata and data, researcher will determine the appropriate AI technology to be applied.
• Research will work with NIST staff to create AI embeddings which will enhance the search experiences by improving semantic and similarity searches. It can also be used to improve natural language processing and recommendations in our current system.

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Learn and understand PDR system functionality
• Determine various AI techniques which we can use to improve search experience
• Perform systematic analysis of AI embeddings, MCP and RAGs application
• Incorporate optimized methods of new AI techniques in PDR system.
• Demonstrate search optimization and effectiveness of AI integration.
• Regular code updates, deliver code repo along with documentation.
• Attend regular meetings with NIST

• A Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related field.
• 2-3 years of relevant experience.
• Familiarity with Dev Ops and CICD pipelines.
• Ability to work with real-time event data at scale.
• Familiarity with multiple scripting languages.
• Ability to develop prototypes of tools.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

• CV/Resume (please limit C.V to 3 pages only and only include a valid email address for your contact info. Your resume will not be considered if the following information is included on your CV/resume.)
• Phone number
• Home address/Country
• Languages spoken

Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor's degree holders, graduate students, master's degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use of the information you submit for the purpose stated.

The referenced salary range represents the minimum and maximum salaries for this position and is based on Johns Hopkins…