Building a RAG AI Assistant for Your Research
The Institute for Data Science (IDAS) at Durham University is hosting a two-day, hands-on workshop designed to help researchers from any discipline understand how large language models (LLMs) work and learn how to build local LLM-powered tools using their own research data.
Participants will gain practical experience of building a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) assistant, from preparing research documents and implementing retrieval to generating evidence-based answers with citations. The workshop will use Ollama to run open language models on research-computing testbeds, with a focus on practical implementation, evaluation and responsible AI use.
What you’ll learn
- Prepare and ingest research documents, including text extraction, chunking and embeddings.
- Implement vector search and retrieve relevant information from research documents.
- Connect retrieved evidence to an open language model using Ollama on research-computing testbeds.
- Design prompts that support evidence-based, citation-aware responses.
- Evaluate retrieval quality, answer faithfulness and citation accuracy.
- Understand responsible AI considerations, including data privacy, intellectual property and research integrity.
Who should attend?
The workshop is open to researchers at any career stage, from any discipline and technical background.
No prior machine learning experience is required. Participants should have basic Python skills, including running a Jupyter notebook and following simple code, and bring their own laptop.
Bursaries available
Ten bursaries of £500 each are available to support participation. Bursaries will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please complete the bursary section of the registration form to be considered.
Places are strictly limited to 20 participants, so early registration is encouraged.
Dates, times and location
📅 Dates: Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 December 2026
⏰ Time: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm on both days
📍 Location: AI Skills Centre of Excellence, Durham University, Upper Mountjoy Campus, Durham, DH1 3UP
💷 Cost: Free; registration is required.
🧃 Refreshments and catering: Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Register for the workshop
Registration is required. There are only 20 places available.
View event details and register
Contact
For questions about the workshop, please contact Dr Fawada Qaiser at fawada.qaiser@durham.ac.uk.