Temporary Research Assistant in Data Science and Educational AI

A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consistently ranks as one of the nation's top public universities. Known for its beautiful campus, world-class medical care, commitment to the arts and top athletic programs, Carolina is an ideal place to teach, work and learn.

One of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, Chapel Hill has diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

University employees can choose from a wide range of professional training opportunities for career growth, skill development and lifelong learning and enjoy exclusive perks that include numerous retail and restaurant discounts, savings on local child care centers and special rates for performing arts events.

The School of Education is an academic unit reporting to the Provost. The School is a major center of research, teaching, and public service within the State of North Carolina, the nation, and the world. The School offers a full range of undergraduate and graduate programs. The mission of the School of Education is to conduct research, and generate basic and applied knowledge about human development, educational technology and entrepreneurship, teaching and learning, school counseling, school psychology, administration, as well as educational policy and leadership; prepare leaders in the profession of education by conducting outstanding research, teaching, and service; and assist in the development of strong and effective public schools in North Carolina. In order to fulfill its mission, the School is organized into three academic divisions: (1) Culture, Curriculum, & Teacher Education ( CCATE), (2) Learning, Development & Psychological Sciences ( LDPS), and (3) Educational Policy, Organization, & Leadership ( EPOL).

The Temporary Research Assistant will support a research project developing reusable, open-source AI tutoring infrastructure for mathematics education. The position will focus on data preparation, analysis, model evaluation, software development, and documentation. The position will work with an interdisciplinary team in data science, artificial intelligence, learning sciences, and education.

Primary Responsibilities
* Clean, organize, de-identify, and document educational datasets.
* Develop Python scripts and reproducible data-processing pipelines.
* Support evaluation of learner-state classification, adaptive feedback, and open-weight language models.
* Calculate and summarize model-performance metrics, including agreement, accuracy, calibration, and subgroup performance.
* Assist with testing AI workflows, identifying errors, and documenting results.
* Maintain organized code, datasets, experiment logs, and technical documentation.
* Create tables, visualizations, and summaries for project reports, presentations, and publications.
* Contribute to open-source software, benchmarks, and other project digital public goods.
* Participate in research meetings and collaborate with faculty, researchers, and technical partners.

The position will report to Dr. Leonora (Lora) Kaldaras, Principal Investigator, and collaborate with project faculty, researchers, and partner organizations.

Bachelor's degree; or equivalent combination of training and experience. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.

* Experience with machine learning, natural language processing, or large language models.
* Experience with PyTorch, Hugging Face, or other modern machine-learning frameworks.
* Experience developing reproducible data pipelines, evaluation scripts, or research software.
* Familiarity with Git/GitHub, cloud computing, APIs, or database systems.
* Interest in educational AI, responsible AI, learning analytics, or quantitative reasoning.

If you experience any problems accessing the system or have questions about the application process, please contact the Office of Human Resources at (919) 843-2300 or send an email to employment@unc.edu

Please note: The Office of Human Resources will not be able to provide specific updates regarding position or application status.

The University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply without regard to age, color, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.