Research Assistant (Part-Time)

Schedule: Hybrid (remote + New York City as needed) Up to 5 hours per week

Timeline:May 4 - November 20, 2026

Location: 1 Washington Square North, NY, NY 10003

Study Title: Development and Pilot Testing of a Culturally Grounded AI Chatbot to Promote

Principal Investigators: Dale Maglalang, PhD (NYU Silver School of Social Work) and Raj Korpan, PhD (Computer Science, Hunter College, City University of New York)

• Assist with chatbot prototype development and testing
• Draft and refine chatbot-to-user prompts and dialogue flows
• Develop system instructions/style guidelines to guide LLM responses
• Support integration of curated content using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) workflows
• Conduct internal testing and document bugs or safety concerns
• Assist with usability testing and summarize user feedback
• Attend regular team meetings
• Perform additional related duties as needed

*This position is classified under the professional research staff category at NYU and does not qualify for visa sponsorship including STEM OPT extension. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States for the duration of employment*

Required Education, Experience and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, data science, human-computer interaction, information science, statistics, or related field
• Experience assisting on research or technical projects
• Experience with Python or similar programming language
• Familiarity with chatbots, conversational AI, or large language models (LLMs)
• Strong writing and organizational skills
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Attention to detail and commitment to culturally grounded research

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills

• Experience with prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), or LLM application development
• Experience working with APIs (e.g., OpenAI or similar tools)
• Experience with usability testing or human-centered design
• Interest in digital mental health or community-engaged technology
• Experience working with LGBTQ+ or Asian American communities