Last call: apply for DSI Project Teams | Priority Deadline Friday Aug 29
Application deadline coming soon: Friday, August 29th at 12pm!
Looking for opportunities to meaningfully contribute to real data science (DS) projects? Vanderbilt’s Data Science Institute (DSI) has new opportunities for undergraduates to work on project teams with the guidance of a staff data scientist to learn technical skills, model training, building applications using generative artificial intelligence (AI), project management, and best practices – all while creating innovative new solutions!
Who can apply?
Fall 2025 features an innovative set of engagements across a variety of fields, including law, national security, climate, and astrophysics. To learn more about the projects, see the application form for available projects. Students with technical expertise and training are preferred for team leads and code contributors, including through DS Minor courses, DSI workshops and other discipline-specific courses, and non-technical participants are also welcomed. Roles include:
- Project Team Lead: Technical or non-technical participant who organizes the activities of the team as a project manager
- Domain Lead: Technical or non-technical participant who has the expertise about the domain (these projects will focus on providing technology for facilitating inclusivity for people with intellectual or speech disabilities)
- Technical Team Lead: The lead code contributor – a participant strong in programming in Python and able to provide feedback and coding instruction for other coders
- Code Contributor: A participant who has experience coding in Python or other languages, but feels confident about their ability to currently write or transition to writing Python code
- UI/UX Designer: A technical or non-technical participant who enjoys designing the user interfaces
What experience do I need?
Some roles will require strong domain knowledge or experience with generative AI or deep learning model training. Coders should be familiar with skills relevant to the project, including Python, git, deep learning, machine learning, and/or visualization. For all roles, don’t worry – you won’t be on your own. Training will be provided to get you comfortable in your roles, and you’ll always have a staff DSI data scientist or postdoc in your meetings to help you!
What is the time commitment and expectations for participants?
The DSI provides experiential learning opportunities aligned with standard industry practice and adopts an Agile methodology for running projects. This means that you’ll be in about 3 meetings per week, one meeting will be up to 1.5 hours, and the other two are usually 30 minutes to an hour. Outside of these meetings, you’ll be expected to complete the tasks you’re assigned during that week so that the project can always be making meaningful progress forward. We want you to have the best learning experience and also meet the project objectives, so we do expect our participants to attend all project meetings; however, we do also understand the occasional absence due to interviews, illness, etc.
How do I apply?
Fill out the brief participation form by noon Friday, August 29th. Apply early – we’ll be accepting applicants at this priority deadline, but thereafter on a rolling basis if positions are still available.
We look forward to your involvement!