Rochana R. Obadage
A PhD student at Old Dominion University
About Me
As a PhD student in the Web Science and Digital Libraries Research Group and LAMP-SYS lab at Old Dominion University, I study computational reproducibility and digital libraries, with a broader interest in advancing open science through transparent and reusable research practices. My work applies machine learning to questions in the science of science, particularly in understanding how scientific knowledge is created, cited, and preserved, as well as in extracting research artifacts from scholarly documents for long-term preservation. Before transitioning into doctoral research, I worked as a Machine Learning Engineer, where I designed and developed production-level microservices for computer vision, NLP, and OCR applications. Beyond research, I am also passionate about learner-centered education. Along the way, I have been honored to receive the Dr. Hussein Abdel-Wahab Memorial Scholarship (2025) and to be recognized as an Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant (2024).
Research
A member of the ODU Web Science and Digital Libraries (WS-DL) Research Group and Lab for Applied Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing Systems (LAMP-SYS).
Research Interests: Computational Reproducibility, Digital Libraries, Computer Vision, Science of Science, Applied Machine Learning
News
- February 2026: Award Received! Dr. Hussein Abdel-Wahab Memorial Scholarship - 2025
- November 2025: Paper got accepted! "CC30k: A Citation Contexts Dataset for Reproducibility-Oriented Sentiment Analysis" - JCDL 2025
- November 2025: Paper got accepted! "Context-Based URL Classification for Open Access Datasets and Software in Scholarly Documents" - JCDL 2025
- August 2025: Paper got accepted! "Toward Robust URL Extraction for Open Science: A Study of arXiv File Formats and Temporal Trends" - WADL 2025
- April 2025: Paper got accepted! "[Re] Network Deconvolution" - ReScience C
- April 2024: Paper got accepted! "Can citations tell us about a paper's reproducibility? A case study of machine learning papers" - ACM-REP'24
- April 2024: Award Received! Best Graduate Teaching Assistant 2023/2024 - COS Awards - Department of Compueter Science - ODU
- August 2023: Joined Old Dominion University as a Graduate Student
- July 2022: Paper got accepted! "Transfer Learning Approach for Railway Technical Map (RTM) Component Identification" - Springer Nature
- August 2022: Award Received! University award for academic excellence from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka - General Convocation 2021
- July 2021: Joined the Department of Statistics and Computer Science, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka as a Temporary Lecturer
- June 2021: Graduated as the Computer Science batch top ( S15 Batch ) from the Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Bio
Mr. Rochana Obadage is a Computer Science PhD student in the Web Science and Digital Libraries Research Group and LAMP-SYS lab at Old Dominion University. His research focuses on computational reproducibility, digital libraries, and applying machine learning to study the science of science, including how scientific knowledge is created, cited, and preserved. Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, Mr. Obadage worked as a Machine Learning Engineer, developing production-level microservices for computer vision, natural language processing, and OCR applications. He also served as a temporary Lecturer at the University of Peradeniya for two years, teaching undergraduate computer science courses and guiding students through complex projects. He has been honored with the Dr. Hussein Abdel-Wahab Memorial Scholarship (2025) and recognition as an Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant (2024). Mr. Obadage received his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2021.