AI for Researchers: Enhancing LLM Systems with RAG (Evanston)

Workshop Details

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is an approach to build Large Language Model (LLM) based systems which are grounded on an external knowledge base, such as a collection of academic papers, clinical data, books, or websites. In research, RAG is applied to a plethora of tasks, from improving medical diagnoses, to summarizing legal documents, to generating novel research ideas grounded on well-vetted and trusted sources. In this hands-on workshop, we will start by learning the basic framework and core elements of RAG, including embedding models, vector databases, indexing techniques, and generative models. We will then build a RAG system step by step and test it on provided datasets. 

Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with Python.

Event Details

All Research Code Academy workshops are held in person; there is no hybrid option or recording available. These are interactive, hands-on workshops; participants are required to bring their laptop and charger.

All workshops include coffee and light breakfast pastries in the morning. Lunch breaks will be provided; participants are responsible for their own lunch.

Attendees

Members of the Northwestern community with an active Northwestern NetID as of the date of the workshop are eligible to attend. Registrations made by those without an active NetID may be cancelled. If you will be at Northwestern this summer, but do not yet have a NetID, please register but email nuit_rcds@northwestern.edu to let us know of the situation.

Fees

Limited spots are available for these in-person workshops. Workshops have a registration fee. If you are a member of the Northwestern community and the registration fee would prevent you from attending a workshop, please request a fee reduction using this form. Financial support requests must be made at least three weeks prior to a workshop.

Refunds and Cancellations

Research Code Academy refunds (minus Eventbrite and credit card fees) will be given to cancellations seven (7) days before the event.

Northwestern registrants needing to cancel with fewer than seven (7) days notice can contact nuit_rcds@northwestern.edu for possible refunds.