Assistant Research Scientist; PREP

General Description

Salary: $60,000-$120,000 a year

PREP Research Associate

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (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.

The focus of this project is to conduct a pilot study and develop a demonstration of reproducible AI evaluations. The student will explore the different ways AI evaluations are conducted and the challenges of reproducibility in these contexts. The project aims to produce a study report and a working demonstration of reproducible AI evaluations, supporting broader work at NIST in the measurement of AI.

• Conduct literature survey on the state-of-the-art of reproducible evaluations of software systems
• Gain familiarity with existing AI evaluation frameworks
• Contribute to a plan detailing a demonstration of reproducible AI evaluations
• Design, implement, test, and document software and systems used for demonstration
• Document overall demonstration, including current limitations and challenges

• Survey briefly describing key research on software experiment reproducibility
• Summary report of existing AI evaluation frameworks
• Working demonstration of reproducible AI evaluations
• Report describing the demonstration and discussing the challenges in AI evaluation reproducibility.

• Background in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, Data Science, or related field.
• Education level: graduate student or higher.
• Strong interest in software development, AI measurement, reproducibility
• Experience with software development in Python, version control systems, AI models, and the shell, as well as scientific reading and technical writing.
• Experience conducting AI evaluations and designing reproducible software experiments preferred.

Please upload the following with your application:

• 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.
• Self portraits
• Phone number
• Home address/Country
• Citizenship status
• Languages spoken
• Sex/Gender

Privacy Act Statement

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.

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.