Modeling Interactive Information Retrieval and Social Media Interaction as Stochastic Process (Distinguished Lecture)
Norbert Fuhr,
University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany –
Abstract:
Stochastic models have a long history in information retrieval (IR). For modeling sequences of interactions, different variants of Markov models have been proposed by a number of researchers. Here a user moves stochastically between different model states, which are not directly observable; instead, some signal is emitted along with each transition. For applying these models to interactive retrieval, we aim at modeling search progress at a level that is comparable to cognitive models. This allows for user-oriented analysis of interactive IR, for user guidance and for stochastic simulations of interactive IR. As a second application domain, we regard social media interaction, focusing on rumor detection and veracity in Twitter streams. Experimental results from both domains show that these approaches are well-suited for dealing with real-world data.
Bio
Norbert Fuhr holds a PhD (Dr.) in Computer Science from the Technical University of Darmstadt, which he received in 1986. He became Associate Professor in the computer science department of the University of Dortmund in 1991 and was appointed Full Professor for computer science at the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2002.
His past research dealt with topics such as probabilistic retrieval models, the integration of IR and databases, retrieval in distributed digital libraries and XML documents, and user friendly retrieval interfaces. His current research interests are models for interactive retrieval, user-oriented retrieval methods and social media retrieval.
Norbert Fuhr has served as PC member and program chair of major conferences in IR and digital libraries, and on the editorial boards of several journals in these areas.
In 2012, Norbert Fuhr received the Gerald Salton Award of ACM-SIGIR.
Host
Mário Jorge Costa Gaspar da Silva
Venue:
Upcoming Events
INESC Brussels HUB Winter Meeting 2023

This edition of the HUB Winter Meeting will be co-organised with Science Business and will take place on the 30 and 31 January, in Lisbon, at Instituto Superior Técnico, Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
Please see below a summary of the agenda, this will be updated on the INESC Brussels HUB website regularly (confirmed speakers and other relevant info). Places for onsite participation are limited so registration is mandatory. Online participants will be sent a ZOOM link for each specific session on the 27th January.
INESC Brussels HUB website: https://hub.inesc.pt/
Monday, 30 January
a) Digital Europe Programme & Chips Act: state of play and possibilities for INESC.
9h to 10h30 GMT
(Exclusive for INESC researchers and administrators).
b) Science Business: how can INESC tap into Science Business network, activities and communications tools.
(Exclusive for INESC researchers and administrators).
c) Networking Lunch (for all onsite participants).
d) Roundtable: From rhetoric to reality – Embedding international strategy in the DNA of research organisations.
(Closed-door, roundtable workshop, Chatham House rules, open to INESC researchers and administrators, external participants by invitation only).
e) Networking Dinner
(By invitation only – INESC researchers participating onsite in the event are elegible to join).
Tuesday, 31 January
f) Workshop: How they did it? Strategic positioning for structural success in Horizon Europe: a discussion of best practices.
(Exclusive for INESC researchers, administrators and international invited speakers).
g) The public consultation on European R&I Programmes: Towards FP10.
(Closed-door, roundtable workshop, Chatham House rules, open to INESC researchers and administrators, external participants by invitation only).
h) Networking Lunch (for all onsite participants).
i) Management Committee meeting (Directors and POB members)
The HUB Winter Meeting aims at bringing together researchers and administrators from the 5 INESC institutes, affiliated higher education institutions in Portugal and abroad, with key European and global players, to:
– Discuss key research and innovation issues at EU level.
– Inform institutional policy and strategy.
– Exchange best-practices about R&I management, career development and policy positioning.
– Promote, discuss and deliver vision, visibility, networking and impactful communication.
– Create, identify and deepen partnerships and collaboration opportunities for collaborative R&I.