VTS Service Support Research Assistant

Vanderbilt University • Nashville, TN

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The research assistant position provides highly guided services support in basic technical research tasks for the Human Language Analysis Lab in Vanderbilt University’s College of Connected Computing. This is a service-oriented staff role focused on completing assigned programming, web development, data-management, infrastructure-support, and research-assistance tasks under the direction of the supervisor, project leads, and research collaborators. The position supports faculty-led and collaborator-led projects by producing pieces of software or analysis tools, assisting with data workflows, troubleshooting technical issues, documenting work, and helping the lab meet project and operational needs as directed. The role does not independently direct research projects, set research priorities, or supervise staff.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, computational science, data science, information systems, or a related technical field.
• Programming skills, especially in Python.
• Experience with web programming or scripting, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and/or React.js.
• Comfort working in Linux environments, command-line interfaces, and shell scripting.
• Experience with git or similar version-control tools.
• Ability to modify, test, document, and maintain software in support of assigned projects.
• Ability to perform data processing, data organization, quality assurance, and technical troubleshooting.
• Strong organization, attention to detail, and follow-through.
• Clear, prompt, and professional communication.
• Responsiveness to feedback and ability to revise work as directed.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a service-oriented research environment.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with PyTorch, MySQL, C, R, SPSS, or related tools.
• Experience with applied machine learning, natural language processing, data science, or research programming.
• Experience supporting research studies, participant recruitment tools, surveys, dashboards, or data-collection applications.
• Familiarity with cloud computing platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, or Azure.
• Experience with databases, APIs, data pipelines, or secure data-management workflows.
• Experience preparing technical documentation, reports, figures, diagrams, or presentation materials.

Responsibilities

• Develop, modify, and test scripts and pieces of web applications, dashboards, and research tools, as assigned.
• Support front-end and back-end web development, as assigned.
• Assist with data processing, data transfer, data organization, quality assurance, visualization, and reporting, as assigned.
• Attend project meetings and provide updates on assigned tasks.
• Document code, workflows, and project procedures so that other lab members can use and maintain them.
• Assist with research materials such as figures, tables, diagrams, progress reports, presentations, manuscripts, proposals, and background literature review as assigned.
• Assist in maintaining basic computational lab resources, including basic linux servers, cloud resources, databases, and repositories.
• When encountered, communicate problems or decision points and timelines clearly to supervisors and project teams.
• Support other tasks as assigned, related to lab operations

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Entry Level