Research Assistant (Data Engineer)

The NUS Institute for Applied Learning Sciences and Educational Technology (ALSET) is looking for a data engineer to enhance its data collection and processing pipeline as well as work with researchers to fulfill their data need. The three to six-month project includes merging and extracting researcher-collected data with data collected from NUS systems and developing new data services. Work will be carried out via R/Python/Stata notebooks as well as through Microsoft’s collaboration environment.

ALSET is a research institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a special focus on advancing teaching and learning practices, especially for tertiary and adult students in Asia. ALSET is positioned to serve as a platform to bring together interested partners in and outside of NUS to design, develop, deploy, and evaluate learning processes, systems, and applications. ALSET aims to enhance the educational experience through rigorous research and its practical application.

The job scope of the candidate includes:

• Processing and extracting data from the ALSET Data Lake according to researcher specifications and data governance requirements
• Optimising and automating the researcher-collected data processing and extraction pipeline
• Architecting and analysing activity logs for research purposes
• Conducting ad hoc data analyses related to educational research and learning analytics
• Other duties as designated by ALSET management

This description is a summary only and describes the general level of work to be performed, it is not intended to be all-inclusive.

Qualifications needed:

• A bachelors or masters degree in computer science/engineering/data science or related field
• Understanding of user-centred design principles
• Exceptional communication and documentation skills
• Superior organization skills and dedication to completing projects in a timely manner

Job Competencies: 

• Excellent proficiency with Python/R
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Rapid prototyping and iterative design skills
• Previous experience with workflow optimization and automation
• Previous experience working with confidential data
• Previous experience with NPL and sequential pattern mining techniques (desirable)
• Previous experience analysing learning platforms in educational settings (desirable)

At NUS, the health and safety of our staff and students is one of our utmost priorities and COVID-vaccination supports our commitment to ensure the safety of our community and to make NUS as safe and welcoming as possible. Many of our roles require significant amount of physical interactions with student / staff / public members. Even for job roles that can be performed remotely, there will be instances where on-campus presence is required.

With effect from 15 January 2022, based on Singapore’s legal requirements, unvaccinated workers will not be able work at the NUS premises. As such, we regret to inform that job applicants need to be fully COVID-19 vaccinated for successful employment with NUS.[1]

[1]  MOM Updated advisory on COVID-vaccination at the Workplace , subject to changes in accordance with the national COVID-19 measures