December 2024 - Gradstudents - mailman.cs.vt.edu

Fw: Invitation for PhD Datathon for Computer Science Students
by Seyam, Mohammed 21 Jan '25

21 Jan '25

Forwarded as requested! ________________________________ We are excited to announce that this Fall, we are partnering with Citadel and Citadel Securities to host the Global <https://www.citadel.com/careers/students/datathons/?utm_source=correlationo…> PhD Datathon<https://www.citadel.com/careers/students/datathons/?utm_source=correlationo…>, a data science competition that will bring the top quantitative PhD students across the world together! This event will have students competing for USD$25,000 in cash prizes and participants will also be eligible for exclusive recruiting opportunities with Citadel and Citadel Securities. The event is completely free and invite only. Could you share the information below with your students? We’d love to see students from Virginia Tech apply before we reach full capacity. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions - I would be happy to assist! Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. Best, Beatrice Please note: This message is a promotion of the Datathon and Terminal events. Campaigns are sent manually and monitored by our team - you can easily opt out of receiving future emails by replying with "Unsubscribe". Global PhD Datathon Hosted by Citadel and Citadel Securities in partnership with Correlation One, we’re inviting top PhD students all over the world to compete at the PhD Datathon this November. Top performing students have the opportunity to win $25,000USD in cash prizes along with exclusive recruiting opportunities with Citadel. The Datathon challenges students from the world's best universities to tackle real-world social challenges in topics such as urban traffic, renewable energy, and education. PhD Datathon is a global data science competition, even bigger and more exciting than our nation-wide events! This is an individual competition, whereby participants will be working on their submissions individually throughout the week of the competition in order to accommodate their schedules. When: November 4 - 11th Where: Virtual Who: Current Ph.D. students and post-doc researchers Prizes: $25,000USD + Exclusive recruiting opportunities with Citadel and Citadel Securities Apply for PhD Datathon here!<https://www.citadel.com/careers/students/datathons/?utm_source=correlationo…> Admissions are made on a rolling basis, so I encourage you to complete your application now! Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at competitions(a)correlation-one.com<mailto:competitions@correlation-one.com> if you have any questions. Good luck! Best, Citadel and Correlation One -- Beatrice Khoo Business Operations Manager Correlation One<https://www.correlation-one.com/> 1330 Avenue of the Americas 12th Floor New York, NY 10019 [https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4x_0XyUz9vSZxKBq5-g_ngGmA0h…]<http://www.correlation-one.com/> [https://t.yesware.com/t/f3508e25c57d8f8f063457f3e5fe23988cd4b1a7/d39e3ff48d…]

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CRA - Annual Survey
by Coulson, Sara 17 Jan '25

17 Jan '25

The Computing Research Association (CRA) is interested in career development among students in computing fields. Our Computer Science Department also uses the survey's aggregate results to to understand how our program is serving our students and ways in which we can improve. You’re invited to complete the survey if you are a current undergraduate or graduate student completing courses or working towards a degree in Computer Science at Virginia Tech. Your input is valuable in helping us understand factors that contribute to academic retention and persistence, particularly within Virginia Tech’s Computer Science Department. In exchange for your time, you’ll have the chance to enter a raffle to win one of five hundred $25 Amazon gift cards! To complete survey, please follow the link below: https://cerp.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e42au8zqmjbYvVI/?id=vt_cs Thanks in advance for your time and responses! [cid:91f7a27d-de85-4b0d-a849-8b14479176d9] Sara Coulson Director of Graduate Programs | Computer Science Torgersen 3210C 620 Drillfield Drive Blacksburg, VA 24061 scoulson1(a)vt.edu 540-231-0780

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Time to Register for 2025 CS PhD Qualifier Exam (Due 1/13 EOD)
by Muhammad Ali Gulzar 27 Dec '24

27 Dec '24

Dear Ph.D. Students, If you are considering taking the CS PhD qualifier exam this academic year (i.e., in Spring 2025), please review the registration details provided on the 2025 Ph.D Qualifier Exam webpage <https://people.cs.vt.edu/~gulzar/qualifier/sp2025/>. Be mindful that your participation in the survey sent earlier does not automatically register you for the exam; you must commit to taking the exam by registering using the following registration link <https://forms.office.com/r/s1mWsq8Aa0>. Use your VT account to access this form. You can edit your registration till the due date, which is 1/13/2025 11:59PM ET. If you consider yourself eligible for a waiver, you must register for the exam and fill in the relevant section on the registration form to express this. Feel free to contact me if you have further questions. I wish you the best. Sincerely, Gulzar — Muhammad Ali Gulzar Assistant Professor Virginia Tech | Department of Computer Science 220 Gilbert Street, Room 4106 Blacksburg, VA 24060 (540) 231-0851 | gulzar(a)cs.vt.edu | https://people.cs.vt.edu/~gulzar

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CS|Source Announcements and Opportunities | Wednesday, December 18, 2024
by Shirkey, Claire 18 Dec '24

18 Dec '24

[cid:image001.png@01DB511F.DAE68CA0] All Computer Science Students: Job Hub Remember to post your resume to the CS JobHub<https://jobhub.cs.vt.edu/> in addition to Handshake! All CS|Source Members have access to your resumes once they are available on our JobHub site! For assistance with tech support, please contact Ben Stein (bbradner(a)vt.edu<mailto:bbradner@vt.edu>). [AI Assistant - Amazon Q - AWS] AWS Amazon Q Team Hiring Summer 2025 Interns! AWS Amazon Q team is hiring Applied Science interns for summer 2025 to develop cutting-edge LLM applications and intelligent coding agents. You'll work alongside leading researchers in machine learning, NLP, and software engineering, advancing every stage of coding agents - from pre-training and fine-tuning to agent deployment and evaluation. This role offers the chance to drive innovation in AI-powered coding tools for intelligent code completion, automated code reviews, and more. If interested, please share the resume on shwegarg(a)amazon.com<mailto:shwegarg@amazon.com> with the subject "2025 summer internship opportunity". [Cornell Tech - WiTNY Initiative Announces National Expansion to Recruit More Women in Tech - Formally Becomes Break Through Tech] Applications Open for 2025-26 AI Program! Break Through Tech<https://www.breakthroughtech.org/programs/sprinternships/> is now accepting applications<https://bit.ly/break-through-tech-ai-application> for the 2025-26 AI Program, which will begin in May 2025! The AI Program<https://www.breakthroughtech.org/programs/the-ai-program/> is a free, virtual, one-year extracurricular experience that equips you with the skills needed to secure a job in the fastest-growing areas of tech: data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML). Developed by industry and academic leaders, you will master the skills necessary to become a successful machine learning engineer. Complete our ML Foundations curriculum over the summer and tackle industry projects hosted by leading companies during the academic year. Along the way, you will learn practical, industry-relevant skills that will qualify you for entry-level jobs in the field, including building data analysis pipelines and utilizing common ML and AI tools and libraries to train and validate ML models. At the same time, you will receive career coaching, mentorship, and summer internship placement support, all aimed at helping you successfully launch your career in machine learning and AI. All fellows who complete the program will receive a $2,000 award. Apply here: https://bit.ly/break-through-tech-ai-application. The Priority Application Deadline is January 13, and the Final Application Deadline is February 24. [smover | LinkedIn] Full-time and Internship Opportunities Available at Startup smover 1-Minute Video<https://docsend.com/view/w9dd72ffhaxvupvk> Smover is the first AI-powered platform that makes buying and selling real estate seamless from search to sale. Unlike fragmented solutions like Zillow (search) and Qualia (contract to close), smover offers a seamless, customer-centric solution. Our global team, from San Francisco to Estonia, brings over 20 years of experience from the Valley at companies such as Apple, Slack, AirBnb, Yahoo, and Shutterfly. We're proudly backed by StartupBootCamp, Google for Startups, Virginia's ICAP, South Carolina's Research Authority, and NVIDIA's Inception Program. Please see the two attached flyers for more information. [Department of Management- Pamplin College of Business] Two Part-Time Undergraduate Cybersecurity Roles for VT: Need to be Filled ASAP We're hiring two undergraduate students to support Modernizing Talent Management in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. (MTM VMD), connecting neurodiverse talent with cybersecurity roles. Open Positions: 1. Project Management: Handshake link<https://vt.joinhandshake.com/emp/jobs/9512164> 2. Research Assistant: Handshake link<https://vt.joinhandshake.com/emp/jobs/9512231> Apply by December 20 by emailing your resume and cover letter to MTM-VMD(a)vt.edu<mailto:MTM-VMD@vt.edu>. Cybersecurity expertise is optional; an interest in the topic is required. Spread the word or apply today! Apply for a Water Quality Research Position! Water quality research positions The Carey Lab<https://carey.biol.vt.edu/> in the Department of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech is recruiting paid undergraduate research assistants for the Spring 2025 semester and throughout Summer 2025 (March-August). We are looking for a spring semester commitment of ~5-10 hours/week beginning in March and a summer commitment of ~30 hours/week from March to August. Students interested in working with the Carey Lab for multiple semesters beyond Summer 2025 are particularly encouraged to apply! All applicants must be enrolled at Virginia Tech with junior standing or earlier. Both positions will start at $15/hour. Applicants may apply to both positions, but should email Katie and Maria separately with their applications (see contact info below). Position 1 will entail water quality sampling of local drinking water reservoirs in Roanoke, VA and their inflow streams, preparing for field sampling, and assisting with chemical analyses of water quality samples in the laboratory. You will work closely with graduate student mentors and will gain experience working as part of an interdisciplinary team of scientists. There will also be opportunities to gain/develop skills in data management, coding (R programming language). Applicants should also be attentive to detail, excited about outdoor work experience, and able to lift 40 pounds. Please see attached flier and position description. <https://docs.google.com/document/d/11o_IUyd82GphP8vkrb8XEVnpuU-KjpeG/edit> Position 2 will be based in Blacksburg during the spring 2025 semester, and in Sunapee, NH from mid June - late July/early August over the summer. All travel and lodging costs are covered as part of the position. The undergraduate researcher will assist with water quality sampling, field sampling preparation, data management, sample analysis, and science communication. They will work closely with a graduate student mentor, lab manager, and community members at a watershed association to gain field and lab experience as part of an interdisciplinary team. For more details, please see attached flier and position description.<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JHN14nIBZfFbWde3BKBGcc0YTSa1DjdaLyVrcQY…> For Position 1 Questions and Applications: Email Maria Popescu at mariapopescu100(a)vt.edu<mailto:mariapopescu100@vt.edu> with the subject "CAREY UNDERGRAD POSITION" For Position 2 Questions and Applications: Email Katie Hoffman at kkhoffman(a)vt.edu<mailto:kkhoffman@vt.edu> with the subject line "Carey Lab Sunapee summer research technician" For both applications please include: * A current CV or resume * A cover letter describing both your specific interest in the position and your relevant experience * Contact information for 2 references Please look within the attached postings for more details and application instructions for the position. Applications for these positions are due via email by 11:59pm EST December 20, 2024 [A crash course on AWS. Ramp up on AWS in minutes via a... | by Yevgeniy Brikman | Gruntwork] Internship with Amazon Web Services Amazon Web Services (AWS) is offering a 12-week full-time summer internship for students interested in cloud computing and technical support. Key Details: * Role: Cloud Support Associate Intern * Locations: Seattle, WA; Dallas, TX; Herndon, VA * Dates: Start on May 19, 2025 (semester programs) or June 16, 2025 (quarter programs) * Eligibility: * Enrolled in an associate or undergraduate degree program * Graduation date between December 2025 and August 2026 This internship offers hands-on experience with AWS cloud services, technical training, and collaboration with AWS engineers to solve real-world challenges. For more information and to apply, visit: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/jobs/2821960/cloud-support-associate-intern-us?n… [Deutsche Bank publishes initial transition plan - MarketingReport] Deutsche Bank Opportunities Meet Us Virtually or On Your Campus We're still accepting applications for the 2025 TDI Grad Tech Analyst and Summer Intern Tech Analyst positions! We hope to see you at a few additional remaining virtual and in-person recruiting activities this fall. 2025 TDI Grad and Intern Program: The 2025 TDI Grad Program is a full-time one-year rotational program open to undergraduate seniors or 2nd year Master's students with less than 12 months' work experience and will be completing their studies (all final exams, coursework and have no outstanding requirements for graduation) between January 1, 2024 and July 31, 2025. [Apply Here<https://db.recsolu.com/external/requisitions/F0yxL9nQ2hYCyPTeyUR3Dw>] The 2025 TDI Intern Program is a 10-week summer program open to undergraduate juniors or 1st year Master's students with less than 12 months' work experience, graduating between December 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026. [Apply Here<https://db.recsolu.com/external/requisitions/vuuwuFfzzsGmhlnhPxJQeA>] Good To Know Watch this short for a snapshot of what the internship looks like at Deutsche Bank: National Intern Day 2024 (youtube.com)<https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9EVcY_GoSe8> More Opportunities at Deutsche Bank Welcome - Inside Deutsche Bank - Deutsche Bank Careers (db.com)<https://careers.db.com/inside-deutsche-bank/> Cary - Deutsche Bank Careers (db.com)<https://careers.db.com/explore-the-bank/locations/americas/cary> Cary overview video<https://vimeo.com/832369333/6526cd98f9?share=copy> TDI NY & Cary, NC<https://careers.db.com/students-graduates/Search-Programmes/#/graduate/resu…> DB Careers page<https://careers.db.com/professionals/search-roles/#/professional/> Follow us on LinkedIn: Deutsche Bank Technology, Data & Innovation [cid:image007.png@01DB511F.DAE68CA0] Fellowship Opportunities! Our fellowships are unique educational programs that give students insight into our firm and industry. No finance experience necessary! Over three days at our NYC headquarters, fellows participate in interactive seminars led by notable speakers and our staff. They'll also spend time with senior leaders at the firm, discuss career paths in finance with recent hires and long-tenured employees, and develop relationships with students from schools around the country. There's a $1,500 stipend, and we'll cover their travel and accommodations. Students can learn more on our fellowships website<https://www.fellowships.deshaw.com/recruit/jobs/Oncampus/EB2024Dept> or check out this video<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swxn1o_1Hrk> to hear from former fellows. A few key dates: * March programs: Applications are open until Friday, January 3, 2025. Applications for our summer 2025 internships are also open (for 2026 graduates)! Students can get a quick overview of our internships on our website<https://campus.deshaw.com/>, and apply for as many roles as they'd like here<https://www.deshaw.com/recruit/internships/Oncampus/EB2024Dept>.

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Fw: Help circulating a student job call (VR developer position at VT)
by Seyam, Mohammed 16 Dec '24

16 Dec '24

Forwarding as requested.. Mohammed Seyam<https://website.cs.vt.edu/people/faculty/mohammed-seyam.html>, PhD Collegiate Associate Professor Coordinator for Experiential Learning<https://xl.vt.edu/> Department of Computer Science<http://cs.vt.edu/> Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VirginiaTech<http://www.vt.edu/>). Website<https://cs.vt.edu/people/faculty/mohammed-seyam.html>|LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/msseyam/>|Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/MSSeyam> ________________________________ From: Elgewely, Eiman <eelgewely(a)vt.edu> Sent: Monday, December 16, 2024 2:30 PM To: Seyam, Mohammed <seyam(a)vt.edu> Subject: Help circulating a student job call Hi Dr. Mohamed, I hope my email finds you well. I wonder if you can help me circulate the attached job call among your network of Computer Science upper-classmen and graduate students, as my lab is hiring now. Thanks Eiman Eiman Elgewely, MFA, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Interior Design, Director of the Visualization and Virtual Reality Lab, School of Design, AAD. Virginia Tech. eelgewely(a)vt.edu https://vvrlab.tech/

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Adeyemi Aina's MS Defense
by Shaffer, Cliff 16 Dec '24

16 Dec '24

You are invited to attend Adeyemi Aina's MS Thesis defense on Wednesday, December 18 at 2:30 pm, Zoom https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/81288660128. Beyond Curation: A Validation and Classification Infrastructure for an Educational Content Catalog Abstract: To address the challenge of discovering Computer Science learning resources, the Smart Learning Content Catalog is designed to simplify access to the growing body of educational content. As part of the Standards, Protocols, and Learning Infrastructure for Computing Education (SPLICE) research community's efforts, the Catalog functions as a centralized platform supporting SPLICE's objectives of improving interoperability, enabling comprehensive data collection, and facilitating data analysis in Computer Science education. The SPLICE catalog stands out from previous catalogs with an approach that applies an ontology-based content organization and validation services. Additionally, it serves as a platform where educators can contribute, access, and share a wide range of resources—including slideshows, interactive exercises, programming tasks, and Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI)-integrated content from various learning tools. While the primary goal of the catalog is to disseminate high-quality learning materials, its extensive and varied content requires robust organization and validation mechanisms to ensure educators can efficiently locate and utilize resources. The Catalog supports a variety of content types, including iframes, standalone, and all LTI content types. To support contributors such as OpenDSA, to offer content with multiple LTI standards, we have adopted the LTI 1.3 standard. LTI 1.3 addresses the limitations of earlier versions, providing a more robust framework. One key improvement in LTI 1.3 is its security features, incorporating robust authentication methods to ensure stronger protection of sensitive student information. This updated standard enables learning tools to meet the evolving demands of digital education, providing educators and learners with more secure, flexible, and effective resources. -- Dr. Cliff Shaffer Professor Department of Computer Science Phone: (540) 231-4354 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061 WWW: www.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer<http://www.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer>

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VR Developer Position
by Lee, Sang Won 14 Dec '24

14 Dec '24

Please forward this job opportunity to the relevant mailing list. Hi, The Visualization and Virtual Reality Lab (VVR) (https://vvrlab.tech/ )at the School of Design, College of Architecture, Art, and Design(AAD) is hiring a VR game developer using Unreal Engine. Requirements: • Upperclassman or Grad student experienced in Unreal Engine VR development. • Proficient in Unreal Engine with a portfolio showcasing previous projects. • Skilled in programming for Unreal VR (C++) • Experience with VR hardware like Oculus, Vive, or other major VR platforms. • Familiarity with 3D modeling and texturing for 3D environments. • Problem-solving mindset and keen attention to detail. • Excellent communication and team collaboration abilities. Preferred: • Familiarity with other VR development tools, such as Unity or SteamVR. • Experience with multiplayer and networking in VR environments. • Understanding of game design principles and user experience (UX) in VR. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the forefront of VR application development within our university community. To apply, Submit your resume and portfolio to: eelgewely(a)vt.edu Thanks! Sang

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an invitation to Chandra Sekhar Nerella's MS thesis defense
by Lenwood S. Heath 12 Dec '24

12 Dec '24

Greetings, all! Chandra Sekhar Nerella will defend his MS thesis on Monday, December 16, at 10:00 AM in Torgersen 1210. You are invited to attend in person or to Zoom at https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/81089872130 The title and abstract are below. -- Lenwood S. Heath Professor 2160J Torgersen Hall Department of Computer Science Cell phone: (540) 392-6672 Virginia Tech FAX: (540) 231-6075 Blacksburg, VA 24061-0106 Email: heath(a)vt.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Message and signature (c)2024 Lenwood S. Heath All rights reserved -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comparative Analysis of Genomic Similarity Tools in Species Identification This study presents the development and evaluation of an automated pipeline for genome comparison, leveraging four bioinformatics tools: alignment-based methods (pyANI, FastANI) and k-mer-based methods (Sourmash, BinDash 2.0). The analysis focuses on high-quality genomic datasets characterized by 100\% completeness, ensuring consistency and accuracy in the comparison process. The pipeline processes genomes under uniform conditions, recording key performance metrics such as execution time and rank correlations. Initial comparisons were conducted on a subset of five genomes, generating 10 unique pairwise comparisons to establish baseline performance. This preliminary analysis identified k=10 as the optimal k-mer size for Sourmash and BinDash, significantly improving their comparability with alignment-based methods. For the expanded dataset of 175 genomes, encompassing 175 choose 2=15,225 unique comparisons, pyANI and FastANI demonstrated high similarity values, often exceeding 90% for closely related genomes. Rank correlations, calculated using Spearman's rho and Kendall's tau, highlighted strong agreement between pyANI and FastANI (rho = 0.9630 , tau= 0.8625) due to their shared alignment-based methodology. Similarly, Sourmash and BinDash, both employing k-mer-based approaches, exhibited moderate-to-strong rank correlations (rho = 0.6967, tau = 0.5290). In contrast, the rank correlations between alignment-based and k-mer-based tools were lower, underscoring methodological differences in genome similarity calculations. Execution times revealed significant contrasts between the tools. Alignment-based methods required substantial computation time, with pyANI taking an average of 1.97 seconds per comparison and FastANI averaging 0.81 seconds per comparison. Conversely, k-mer-based methods demonstrated exceptional computational efficiency, with Sourmash completing comparisons in 2.1 milliseconds and BinDash in just 0.25 milliseconds per comparison, reflecting a difference of nearly three orders of magnitude between the two categories. These results underscore the trade-offs between computational cost and methodological approaches in genome similarity estimation. This study provides valuable insights into the relative strengths and weaknesses of genome comparison tools, offering a comprehensive framework for selecting appropriate methods for diverse genomic research applications. The findings emphasize the importance of parameter optimization for k-mer-based tools and highlight the scalability of these methods for large-scale genomic analyses.

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Quantum computing course next semester
by Khatri, Sumeet 11 Dec '24

11 Dec '24

Hi everyone, In the coming Spring 2025 semester, I will be teaching a course on current research topics in quantum information and computation. Title: CS 6104: Adv. Topics in Theory of Computation: Frontiers in Quantum Information and Computation Description: After an introduction into the basics of quantum information and computation, I plan to cover topics of current research such as: entanglement theory (including the concept of pseudo-entanglement), learning theory of quantum states and processes (hypothesis testing, (shadow) tomography); quantum communication in theory and practice (quantum repeaters, multipartite entanglement distribution, entanglement distillation); and noise in (random) quantum circuits. There will be a combination of lectures and student-led presentations. The course can be taken for a grade or on a pass-fail basis. If you are interested, please register! And if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at skhatri(a)vt.edu. Thanks! Sumeet

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Pradyumna MS defense 10am on 12/13: Everyone is invited
by Fox, Edward 11 Dec '24

11 Dec '24

Hi! Everyone is invited to 2030 Torgersen Hall at 10am on 12/13 (Friday) for the MS thesis defense of: Pradyumna Upendra Dasu The abstract is below and the title is: Topic Modeling for Heterogeneous Digital Libraries: Tailored Approaches Using Large Language Models This covers NLP, Information Retrieval, Digital Library, and User Study aspects of how to make topic modeling practical with the aid of LLMs. Hoping you can join! PS We also will use Zoom: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/my/ed.fox PPS Other members of the committee are: Xuan Wang and Yinlin Chen. -- Edward A. Fox, Ph.D., Professor Virginia Tech | Computer Science (0106) 1160 Torgersen Hall (CS dept. office) Blacksburg, VA 24061 (540) 231-5113 | fox(a)vt.edu<mailto:fox@vt.edu> | http://fox.cs.vt.edu ABSTRACT: Digital libraries hold vast and diverse content, with electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) being among the most diverse. ETDs span multiple disciplines and include unique terminology, making achieving clear and coherent topic representations challenging. Existing topic modeling techniques often struggle with such heterogeneous collections, leaving a gap in providing interpretable and meaningful topic labels. This study addresses these challenges through a three-step framework designed to improve topic modeling outcomes for ETD metadata. First, we developed a custom preprocessing pipeline to enhance data quality and ensure consistency in text analysis. Second, we applied and optimized multiple topic modeling techniques to uncover latent themes, including LDA, ProdLDA, NeuralLDA, Contextualized Topic Models, and BERTopic. Finally, we integrated Large Language Models (LLMs), such as GPT-4, using prompt engineering to augment traditional topic models, refining and interpreting their outputs without replacing them. The framework was tested on a smaller dataset and a large corpus of ETD metadata, including through preliminary testing on a small subset. Quantitative metrics and user studies were used to evaluate performance, focusing on the clarity, accuracy, and relevance of the generated topics. The results demonstrated significant improvements in topic coherence and interpretability, with user study participants highlighting the value of the enhanced representations. These findings underscore the potential of combining customized preprocessing, advanced topic modeling, and LLM-driven refinements to better represent themes in complex collections like ETDs, providing a foundation for downstream tasks such as searching, browsing, and recommendation.

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