Hu invited to Heidelberg Laureate Forum
Xia “Ben” Hu, who is working on his doctorate in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering, one of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, has been selected to participate in the Second Heidelberg Laureate Forum to be held in Germany from Sept. 21-26.
Hu’s research explores the area of social media mining, which lies at the intersection of data mining, information retrieval, natural language processing, machine learning and social computing.
“Social media has emerged as an important platform for large-scale information sharing and communication in fields like marketing, journalism, public relations, etc.,” Hu said. “Understanding and processing this new type of data produced by social media services is necessary to improve the quality of user experience, and to positively impact the overall value of the social systems going forward.
“My research focus is on developing computational algorithms to glean actionable patterns from social media data. I aim to provide analytic tools that enable a person or analyst to possibly study large-scale data, discover and study different questions in social media, that would otherwise be impossible.”
Hu received his bachelor and master’s degrees from the School of Computer Science and Engineering of Beihang University in China.
He is writing a book, “Exposing Social Spammers – A Data Mining Perspective,” with Huan Liu, a professor in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering. It will be published by Cambridge University Press.
After Hu completes work for his doctoral degree in December, he hopes to secure a faculty position at a prestigious university where he can continue his research and help students build their careers in computer science.
Hu was selected for the Forum by the Scientific Committee of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation. Only the 200 of the most qualified young researchers in the world were chosen, 100 working in mathematics, 100 in computer science.
The Forum was created in 2013, when 38 laureates and 200 young researchers from across the globe met in Heidelberg for a week of scientific exchange and interdisciplinary dialogue across generations and beyond cultural barriers.
According to a report of the first Forum, the gatherings are designed to provide a place for dialogue and networking, as well as to awaken interest and understanding of mathematics and computer science in the general public and create a more positive attitude toward the fields.
The one-week event combines scientific, network and outreach activities. Winners of the most prestigious awards in mathematics and computer science are invited and decide the focus of the Forum. Then, young researchers apply and are selected.
“I hope to meet and discuss my future research plans with leading computer scientists and mathematicians,” Hu said. “In addition, it is good for me to connect with young researchers, find common research interests and explore possible future collaborations.”
The Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation was founded by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, a nonprofit foundation that promotes the natural sciences, mathematics and computer science. It is among Europe’s largest nonprofit privately funded foundations.
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