Recommender Systems and Social Networks

News

[Feb 28, 2011] As part of the introductory session on May 06, SAP will give a hands-on presentation of their recommender systems project, which is supported by DBIS
[Jan 10, 2011] All seats are taken, only wait list available

Recommender systems have come of age and have become integral parts of our everyday life on the Web. They represent suitable means for decision support and are thus of utter practical relevance while - at the same time - being based on solid theoretical foundations in statistics and machine learning.
At the same time, by means of the advent of the Web 2.0, social networks and their analysis have gained momentum. Their amalgamation with recommender systems, in particular in application scenarios governed by decentralization of data storage and control, appears as the next logical step.
The seminar at hand aims to investigate the foundations and algorithmic clockworks of recommender systems, their limitations and applications to different domains, as well as their noted amalgamation with social networks.

We kindly ask prospective participants to apply via HIS-LSF for participation in the indicated seminar
Please note that the number of participants is limited to 10.

The seminar is organized as a bloc seminar, consisting of two session with mandatory participation.
Session I: The first session will be held on Friday, May 06, 2011, from 2pm to 7pm (Geb 51 R 00 006). The aim of this first session is to provide all participants with basic knowledge about recommender systems and social networks, present the topics to be elaborated in presentations, and assign topics to participants. Moreover, the first session will address the organization of the second session, to be held over the weekend (Friday plus Saturday).
Session II: The second session will feature the oral presentations of all 10 participants and take place Friday, July 01, 2pm - Saturday, July 02, open end (Schauinsland-Hütte). Participants will stay overnight at the Schauinsland-Hütte Friday to Saturday, costs will be covered by DBIS. Transportation will have to be arranged by the participants themselves.
Additional information:
- ECTS: 4 cr. (equals 2 SWS)
- Location: Geb 51 R 00 006 and Schauinsland-Hütte
- Language: English/German
- Time: 2 sessions: Friday, May 06, 2011, 2pm - 7pm and Friday, July 01, 2pm - Saturday, July 02, open end

Participation in both sessions
Submission of written report (5-10 pages DIN A4, 12 pt., single-spaced, one-column) by July 15 2011
Oral presentation of each participant (English or German); presentation 40 mins, discussion and question 10 mins; note that presentations have to be in PPT and need to follow the format template handed out in the first session
Final presentations need to be submitted by Wednesday, June 29 the latest, by email (cziegler at informatik dot uni-freiburg dot de)
Participation in discussions and the quality of questions raised is also part of the final grade assigned
The final grade is composed 75% oral presentation plus participation in discussions and 25% written report

Topics and references are contained in the PDF document at hand: Download
Note that the indicated paper references are only meant as starting point. Students are highly encouraged to search for other suitable references.