Undergraduate Researcher (Student wage)

The Center for Emerging Technology Identification for Roadway Infrastructure Construction & Maintenance   has developed a radar and rubric to evaluate emerging technologies for VTRC s cientists to pilot and research.

This   rubric   has undergone several iterations of refinement   through   discussions with faculty   and   iterations with   LLMs.   The existing version of the radar has been created   using a   retrieval   augmented   generation   (RAG)   concept. The LLM   compiles 30 URLs for each technology and   uses   them   to rate the technology against the rubric. These scores are then used to place the technology on the radar.   Around 90 technologies have been rated ; these were   identified   using   a VTRC Report on Emerging Technologies in 2004   and research conducted by the   Center’s   post doctoral researchers.

As the Center shifts toward generating pilot projects for VTRC scientists ,   postdoctoral researchers ,   and undergraduate students to work on,   there is still a need to verify the LLM output   and   to build   a more extensive database for each technology. The goal of this document is to outline a plan for undergraduate researchers hired by the Center to conduct this literature review and   generate these   scores   with the   supervision of the postdoctoral researchers.

Outline:

Undergraduate   researchers   hired by the Center are expected to conduct the following tasks:

- Verify   the URL s   provided by the LLM . If these URLs are sufficient,   no   additional   information is required.
- For URLs to be considered sufficient, they must meet the following criteria:   Provide information about the performance of the technology

- Provide information about the cost of the technology
- Provide information   such that the technology can be compared with conventional practice
- Come from   cre dible   sources   ( e.g.,   .gov   or   . edu   sites or official vendor sites)

If the URLs are not sufficient, the undergraduate researchers must conduct an   additional   literature search using academic papers or   the websites of   industry   vendors   offer ing   the technology.

- Generate a summary based on the   literature review. The summary should define the technology   and provide context for   the rubric   ratings. The summary should   contain   references and be no longer than one page.

- Rate   technologies based on   the literature   review. The ratings should be self- supporting   ( justifiable from the summary alone ). If ratings are based on   judgment   due to a   lack of information, justification must be provided .

- Justification must also be provided on   any rubric   rows   that   were omitted   from scoring.

- Provide a confidence   flag for each technology (high/medium/low)   to guide   additional   review. If confidence is medium or low, postdoctoral researchers will conduct an   additional   literature review   before signing off on scoring.

One of the postdoctoral researchers will sign off on each technology before the score is committed to the radar. If the postdoctoral researcher disagrees with the   rating, the   two   will meet   to compare   the reasoning behind   each   score   and   determine   whether   additional   information   should   be added to the summary.

Deliverables:

Undergraduate researchers will   submit   for each technology,   a   one- page   PDF   summary along with a   rubric sheet highlighting the chosen scores and justification.   A template will be provided for undergraduate researchers to fill out to ensure consistency.   Both files   will be stored in a folder named after each technology.

Criteria:

Undergraduate researchers must   be able to synthesize information and provide summaries   that allow the Center team to assess each technology   without referring to external sources.

Experience: Preference is for candidates with engineering backgrounds, but other adjacent fields will also be considered.

Undergrad student wage position for less than 20 hours per week.

Compensation: $16.50/hr.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Resume required.

Education: Current UVA Undergraduate Student.
Experience: None
Licensure: None

Physical Demands: This position may require the ability to sit, stand, walk, bend, stoop, squat, climb stairs, use fine finger manipulation, etc., while conducting, observing, analyzing and/or recording research data.

Under the direct supervision of a faculty member or research supervisor,   conducts research, follows protocols, records research results, etc.   Will use various methods to collect, organize and analyze data, maintain records of research and/or experiments and document results. Ability to follow oral and written instructions, work effectively individually and in a team environment. Students are required to follow all policies and procedures required by the position, including but not limited to environmental, safety, information security/data privacy, etc.

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. All interested persons are encouraged to apply, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Learn more about UVA’s commitment to non-discrimination and equal opportunity employment .