Alexander Fichtl

M. Sc. (he/him)

Research interest

My research focuses on the potential of Knowledge Enhnaced Language Models (KELMs) and their role in the advancement of NLP and artificial intelligence as a whole. Apart from LLM modification and application, this includes the discussion of the emergentism of LLMs in the context of the philosophy of mind. I am also exploring methods to verify generated text and have some projects within the field of biomedical NLP. My research aims to make a contribution to the safe, ethical, and responsible use of LLMs.

Current research topics include:

• Knowledge Enhanced Language Models
• Adapter-based Modification of Language Models
• Biomedical NLP
• Philosophical Implications of LLMs

To my Google Scholar profile

Teaching

Each semester, in collaboration with some of my colleagues, we offer advanced master-level practical courses for students motivated to get hands-on experience in XAI, NLP, and ML. In this courses you will team up with other participants and work on a concrete project that utilized or even tries to improve the current state of the art in the field. The projects last for the whole semester and each one will be under close supervision by either me or one of my colleagues. Groups supervised by me will meet on a (bi-)weekly basis to discuss the current state and the next steps. At the end of the semester, you will be presenting your findings and results as well as delivering your code and a brief "paper-like" report.

Each Semester:
Master Lab Course - Machine Learning for Natural Language Processing Applications (IN2016, IN4249) 
(10 ECTS) see on TUMOnline

If you're interested, it is always a good idea to contact the advisor/manager of your study program. Ask them if the courses are recognized for your master degree.

Thesis, Guided Research & HiWi Offerings

• HiWi Position Starting from 01.03.25, we are offering a HiWi position (15,41€/hour) at our Research Group. Hours would be very flexible and mostly home-office. Your tasks will include the supervision of language model experiments, experimenting with knowledge graphs for model training, and reading up on the latest developments in (biomedical) NLP! Just write me a mail with your CV to apply! :)
• Master Thesis or Guided Research: Emergentism of Large Language Models - This work will discuss the topic of emergentism both in the philosophical sense, as well as the more general cognitive science sense. There already exists a paper draft that the student and I will build upon and complete towards the end of the thesis. This paper promises a potentail early publication in your future academic career :)
  A required read before applying are Achim Stefan’s interpretations of emergence, please contact me and I will share the literature with you. In the current concept of the work, the student will: clarify the terminology of emergentism and LLMs; then, current LLMs and types of emergence are classified according to Achim Stefan’s taxonomy; finally, the limitations of deep learning research and NLP are discussed with respect to emergent properties.
  A decent background in NLP as well as some knowledge (or at least a deeper interest) in cognitive science and the philosophiy of mind and epistemology is required.