𝗣𝗼𝗹𝘆𝗴𝗹𝗼𝘁 – 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

Timing: 2025
Funding: Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Futures (TRA Sustainable Futures) at the University of Bonn

About the Project: The central research question of our project is:
How can we develop efficient large language models (LLMs) for low-resource languages in a manner that promotes equitable and sustainable access to foundation models?

To address these challenges, our project focuses on:

  1. Developing larger and higher-quality datasets for the selected low-resource languages.
  2. Creating open-source monolingual LLMs that are efficient and tailored to these languages, addressing the specific linguistic and cultural nuances often missed by multilingual models.
  3. Designing benchmarks to assess the performance of these models in a manner that focuses on the specificities and cultural nuances of the selected languages.

Our project embodies a distinctly transdisciplinary approach by integrating STEM-related fields and the Humanities. At its core, the project seeks to address technical as well as societal challenges surrounding the development of large language models for low-resource languages. This fusion of perspectives ensures that technological innovation is aligned with humanistic considerations, creating a balanced and sustainable foundation for this collaborative project.

At the heart of our project is the collaboration between two distinct academic faculties: The Institute of Philosophy (Faculty of Arts) and the Institute of Computer Science (Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences).

The Polyglot project directly aligns with the goals of TRA 6 and the overarching aims of the Excellence Universities Initiative (EXU) by addressing critical sustainability challenges, promoting interdisciplinary research, and fostering global collaboration.

Principle Investigators: Prof. Dr. Lucie Flek (Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences), Dr. Nicholas Kluge Corrêa (Faculty of Arts) (Principal Investigator), Dr. Aniket Sen (Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences ) (Principal Investigator)