Our team is looking to hire a continuing graduate student (either a Ph.D. student, or a master’s student in their first year) to maintain and grow a mobile phone app designed to increase the productivity of small and micro retail shops in developing countries. The current version of the app was created by a master’s student who is graduating in March and stepping down. We are looking for someone to build on what he has created.

The current version of the app allows users (entrepreneurs and their employees) to log purchases and sales of goods for resale. It tracks their inventory, calculates key analytics (e.g. which goods are most profitable), and warns them when a good is about to stock out.

We are looking to expand the features of the app to:

• Make recommendations of stocking decisions (try stocking this new product, buy less of this and more of that) by applying algorithms developed by the PIs
• Use LLMs and diffusion models to make entering transactions easier (using voice and image recognition)

The ideal candidate:

• Is available to work during the summer term of 2025 (and possibly earlier)
• Can program and maintain a progressive web app in a web stack based on MySQL, JS/React, and potentially Python/Flask
• Is familiar with Amazon Web Services (specifically RDL and EC2, and possibly other services as needed)
• Wants to apply open source AI models to the problem of user-app interaction
• Has a strong intrinsic motivation to design products to support the livelihoods of entrepreneurs in the Global South

The successful candidate would be hired as a summer GSR at the appropriate step and salary.

If you are interested please send your CV, a brief (1 paragraph) statement of interest, and the names of 2 current faculty members who can serve as references.

Person of Contact: Ajay Shenoy

Associate Professor, Economics

azshenoy@ucsc.edu

Ph.D. Program Director

UCSC