Working student (all genders) – Empirical Software Engineering

AI-based coding assistants are fundamentally changing software engineering, but how exactly do prompts work as software engineering artifacts, and can their connection to traditional requirements engineering activities be empirically demonstrated? At XITASO, we are exploring this fascinating question in collaboration with the University of Bayreuth as part of a pre-registered study. To build a comprehensive database of developer-AI interactions, we are pursuing three complementary approaches:

• Controlled experiments: We design and implement an experimental environment (harness) in which we can observe how developers work on defined tasks.
• Community data: We are developing a web-based tool through which participants can submit their prompt exports.
• Mining public datasets: We are exploring and analyzing existing, publicly available sources of developer-AI interactions.

For all of this, we need active support, and if you’re interested in working on a topic that fascinatingly bridges research and practice, you’ve come to the right place!

• Development of tools and infrastructure for conducting studies, in particular an experiment harness and a web-based submission tool.
• Collaboration in defining and implementing controlled experiments in the fields of prompt engineering and requirements engineering.
• Creation and preparation of a dataset through mining publicly available sources, including coding and quality assurance.
• Analysis of study results and assistance with scientific documentation.

• You are pursuing a degree in computer science or a related field at a university or college.
• You have experience in software development; the choice of programming language is open.
• You work independently, organize your tasks on your own initiative, and maintain a clear overview even when faced with open-ended questions.
• Experience with empirical research methods, study design, or statistics is welcome but not required.
• You value open and honest communication with colleagues and research partners, offer constructive criticism, and are responsive to feedback.
• Your language skills enable you to perform your role in English (at least C1-level). German is desirable but not essential.

Within our standardized and transparent salary framework, the pay for this position ranges from €15.50 to €19.50 per hour and is based on various factors, such as qualifications and experience.

Daniela
+49 821 885882-0
work@xitaso.com