Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) Project Course (Cohort #1)

Due to the personalized mentoring provided in this course, we regret to limit the enrollment to only 10 students. Additional cohorts will be offered at a later date.

Course Overview

Welcome to the RAG Project Course! This course is designed to provide a guided environment for you to build your own Retrieval Augmented Generation project. While there will be no lectures or traditional teaching, you will receive mentorship and support throughout your project journey. By taking this course, you’ll get accountability as you work on your own ideas by working together with your peers. This will be fully online.

Course Mentor: Rahul Parundekar

Duration: 8 weeks

Course Structure

1. Personal Projects: Every student is expected to work on their own RAG project. This project will be the core of your learning experience.
2. Weekly Check-ins: There will be two weekly check-ins:
   • Mondays: Set your goals for the week, share updates, and get feedback from Rahul and fellow participants.
   • Fridays: Review your progress, discuss challenges, and get input on next steps.
3. Slack Channel: A dedicated Slack channel will be available for participants to share updates, ask questions, collaborate on challenges, and discuss solutions.

Prerequisites

1. Course: Completion of “Intro to Building Q&A Systems with LLMs” from the MLOps community.
2. Or: Similar hands-on experience building a PoC of RAG application.

Course Goals

By the end of the course, participants should be able to:

• Understand the practical applications of Retrieval Augmented Generation.
• Develop a functional RAG project tailored to their interest or domain.
• Collaborate with peers to troubleshoot and enhance their projects.
• Present their project, findings, and lessons learned to the cohort.

Course Schedule

Week 1:

• Friday, Nov 3rd: Introduction, project ideation, and initial discussion.

Week 2-7:

• Monday: Updates and weekly goals setting.
• Thursday: Mid-week check-in.

Week 8:

• Wednesday, Dec 27th: Final project presentations and course wrap-up.

Evaluation

There are no grades in this course. However, you can motivate yourself for:

1. Setting a challenging, but achievable goal for yourself.
2. Engagement with the mentor and cohort.
3. Active participation in check-ins and the Slack channel.
4. Demonstrable progress in your project.
5. Final project presentation.

Rules & Expectations

1. Commitment: Consistency is key. Ensure you actively participate in check-ins and engage with the cohort.
2. Respect: Everyone is at a different stage in their learning journey. Be respectful and supportive of your peers.
3. Collaboration: While it’s an individual project, collaboration is encouraged. Share challenges, offer solutions, and engage in constructive discussions.