UW-Madison
This is an EXPIRED job listing. Do not apply for this position!
Two positions are open to undergraduates to become involved in research projects. The starting pay is $12/hour, and the projects can start as soon as possible and will last through June 30, 2010. The work will be done at the Land Information and Computer Graphics Facility, which is in the basement of Steenbock Library. Students must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions.
The work is interdisciplinary between the geospatial area and computer science. Each student can work either in one area or in both areas. To start, research software will be evaluated. This involves searching for and obtaining geospatial data sets, installing the software, putting data into the correct input format, running various methods in the software for pairs of data sets, and analyzing the results by consulting with domain experts familiar with the data. The results need to be written into a paper. Another project involves working with Oracle Spatial 11g and its new ontology system. Advanced projects are possible such as learning and working with Semantic Web technologies, creating ontologies, possibly customizing ArcGIS, or writing other software.
Skills:Skills for these positions can start at an elementary level.
Basic: Basic skills are the ability to contact domain experts to obtain data and gather their reactions, install and run software, and write results into a paper. A needed skill is the ability to be analytical. Familiarity with geospatial data and/or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will be helpful but is not needed. Programming experience would also be helpful but not needed at the basic level.
Advanced: Students with advanced skills in GIS usage and/or the ability to program and customize software will be able to create enhancements to the projects.
The National Science Foundation REUs encourage hiring students with economic hardship as well as minority students, women, and those with disabilities. Freshmen and sophomores will also be considered. The intent of REU projects is to learn basic research skills and also encourage students to major in science and technology
Contact:
Please send a statement of interest that includes any coursework relevant to Computer Science and/or GIScience (Geographic Information Science) to:
Nancy Wiegand
Land Information and Computer Graphics Facility
B102 Steenbock Library
550 Babcock Drive
263-5534
wiegand@cs.wisc.edu