Research Group – Data Science & Language Technologies
Meet The Team
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it Prof. Dr.
Rafet Sifa
Group Leader
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Lucie Flek is a full professor at the University of Bonn, leading the Data Science and Language Technologies group. Her main interests lie in machine learning research for natural language processing (NLP), including AI robustness and safety. The application areas range from large language models and conversational systems, across clinical NLP and mental health research, to misinformation detection and social media analyses.
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it Dr.
Corinna Schmalohr
Postdoc
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Florian Mai has been a postdoc at CAISA since October 2024, working on web agents, planning, and alignment. Previously, he received his PhD from EPFL in 2023, where he graduated with a thesis on low-cost natural language understanding. Subsequently, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at KU Leuven, where he worked on planning algorithms for language modeling.
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it Dr.
Lorenz Sparrenberg
Postdoc
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David is a PhD student at the University of Bonn under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Lucie Flek since August 2024. His current research interests include large language model (LLM)-based web agents and planning algorithms to enhance LLMs’ reasoning and problem solving capabilities. He is also interested in conversational agents and applications of reinforcement learning in the field of NLP.
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it
Farizeh Aldabbas
PhD-Student
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Shangrui Nie is a PhD-student under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Lucie Flek and Dr. Charles Welch. Nie’s research interests lie in the robustness of large language models (LLMs) in the domain of cross-lingual. In addition, Nie is also interested in transfer learning and motivational learning in the field of LLM.
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it
Manuela Bergau
PhD-Student
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Frederik is a researcher in Prof. Lucie Flek’s research group. He started here in August 2024 and has a background in biology and bioinformatics; He completed his master’s degree at the University of Cologne in 2023. He is very interested in data extraction and text mining tasks, particularly in the biomedical field. During his master, he worked with the DLR on analyzing new radiation treatments for lung cancer, via RNA-seq analysis. Now, he is focusing on making the knowledge buried in the vast number of papers published on cancer more accessible and easier to overview. To this end, he aims to use LLMs and other NLP tools to extract and connect knowledge across a large body of literature, to improve our understanding of cancer and to make the lives of biomedical researchers easier.
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it
Armin Berger
PhD-Student
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Shaina’s area of research interest lies in training machines to learn and predict human behavior i.e., author profiling, sentiment analysis etc. Currently her PhD research is focusing on the development of methods and technologies to analyze the mass spread of disinformation among social media and potentially counteract it using machine learning techniques.
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Tobias Deußer
PhD-Student
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Shivam currently works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Data Science and Language Technologies Group under Prof. Lucie Flek. His work focuses on integrating large language models (LLMs) into physics research, developing tools to automate and streamline the analysis of astrophysical phenomena. Previously, he completed his PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Bonn, specializing in strange baryon interactions and computational modeling. Shivam has a strong foundation in high-performance computing, data analysis, and theoretical frameworks and is interested about applying AI-driven approaches to advance scientific discovery.
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it
Hossam Elsafty
PhD-Student
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I have been a postdoc at CAISA February 2026, working on low resource languages and alignment. Previously, I received my PhD from Uni Bonn in 2024 (Summa Cum Laude), where I graduated with a thesis on AI alignment. Subsequently, I worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Science and Thought, where I worked on the Certified AI project.
Areas of Interest
• Deep learning
• Low-Resourc LLMs
• AI safety and alignment
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it
Johannes Hübers
Ph-D Student
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I have been a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University Hospital Bonn since 2024. Since January 2026, I have also been affiliated with the University of Bonn, where I work on conversational AI systems with 3D avatars in interactive environments. My research focuses on integrating large language models with real-time 3D engines to enable natural audio-visual communication between humans and digital agents. Previously, I completed my doctoral research comparing eye-tracking systems and web-based experimental platforms, focusing on the development and evaluation of methods for conducting behavioral and user interaction studies online.
Areas of Interest
• Conversational AI and large language models
• 3D avatars and interactive virtual environments
• Game engines for scientific and applied research
• Human–AI interaction and communication systems
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it
Priya Priya
Ph-D Student
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I have been a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University Hospital Bonn since 2024. Since January 2026, I have also been affiliated with the University of Bonn, where I work on conversational AI systems with 3D avatars in interactive environments. My research focuses on integrating large language models with real-time 3D engines to enable natural audio-visual communication between humans and digital agents. Previously, I completed my doctoral research comparing eye-tracking systems and web-based experimental platforms, focusing on the development and evaluation of methods for conducting behavioral and user interaction studies online.
Areas of Interest
• Conversational AI and large language models
• 3D avatars and interactive virtual environments
• Game engines for scientific and applied research
• Human–AI interaction and communication systems
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it
Svetlana Schmidt
Ph-D Student
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I have been a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University Hospital Bonn since 2024. Since January 2026, I have also been affiliated with the University of Bonn, where I work on conversational AI systems with 3D avatars in interactive environments. My research focuses on integrating large language models with real-time 3D engines to enable natural audio-visual communication between humans and digital agents. Previously, I completed my doctoral research comparing eye-tracking systems and web-based experimental platforms, focusing on the development and evaluation of methods for conducting behavioral and user interaction studies online.
Areas of Interest
• Conversational AI and large language models
• 3D avatars and interactive virtual environments
• Game engines for scientific and applied research
• Human–AI interaction and communication systems
© Maximilian Waidhas / b-it
Muskaan Chopra
Student Assistant
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I have been a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University Hospital Bonn since 2024. Since January 2026, I have also been affiliated with the University of Bonn, where I work on conversational AI systems with 3D avatars in interactive environments. My research focuses on integrating large language models with real-time 3D engines to enable natural audio-visual communication between humans and digital agents. Previously, I completed my doctoral research comparing eye-tracking systems and web-based experimental platforms, focusing on the development and evaluation of methods for conducting behavioral and user interaction studies online.
Areas of Interest
• Conversational AI and large language models
• 3D avatars and interactive virtual environments
• Game engines for scientific and applied research
• Human–AI interaction and communication systems
Tobias Schneider
Student Assistant
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I have been a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University Hospital Bonn since 2024. Since January 2026, I have also been affiliated with the University of Bonn, where I work on conversational AI systems with 3D avatars in interactive environments. My research focuses on integrating large language models with real-time 3D engines to enable natural audio-visual communication between humans and digital agents. Previously, I completed my doctoral research comparing eye-tracking systems and web-based experimental platforms, focusing on the development and evaluation of methods for conducting behavioral and user interaction studies online.
Areas of Interest
• Conversational AI and large language models
• 3D avatars and interactive virtual environments
• Game engines for scientific and applied research
• Human–AI interaction and communication systems