Research Specialist

Role Overview

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) seeks a Research Specialist to drive innovation in electrical and computer engineering. This position centers on the interpretability and reliability of large language models (LLMs) and AI agents, encompassing machine learning research, data analysis within state-of-the-art laboratories, and preparing high-impact publications.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Principal Investigators to design research projects and proposals that advance scientific objectives.
• Formulate hypotheses, conduct rigorous experiments, perform complex data collection using advanced laboratory techniques, and analyze results for publication readiness.
• Pioneer new research approaches by replicating, refining, and implementing novel methods tailored to project needs.
• Develop comprehensive experimental protocols and monitor ongoing developments, proposing necessary adjustments.
• Contribute significantly to the creation of research findings for papers, grants, presentations, and conference submissions.

Department Specific Duties

You will lead efforts in:

• Analyzing LLM interpretability and reliability via sparse-autoencoder (SAE) feature analysis for hallucination detection and failure prediction.
• Applying these techniques to perception and physical AI agents within the SRC JUMP 2.0 CogniSense research on multispectral sensing.

Tech Stack & Skills

• Designing, implementing, and evaluating machine learning models in Python; running experiments and analyzing outcomes.
• Synthesizing literature on LLM interpretability, hallucination detection, and agent reliability.

You will present progress at weekly AEON Lab meetings, collaborate with graduate students, document methods/results for technical reports and figures, and prepare summary talks for the research group. Guidance to lower-level researchers is also a key component of this role.