Lukas Ellinger

M. Sc.

Research interest

My research focuses on developing interactive dialogue systems. The goal is to design systems that can engage users in a natural and empathetic way, build a shared conversational context, and provide reliable, personalized support.

A central aspect of this work is the modeling of the so-called common ground—the social, semantic, and temporal context that underpins a dialogue. Capturing and updating this shared context across long-term user information, medium-term conversational goals, and short-term dialogue turns enables systems to personalize interactions, reduce misunderstandings, and strengthen user trust. These systems can flexibly adapt to the user through clarification, confirmation, or reflective strategies.

Current research topics include:

• Modeling and maintaining common ground in dialogue
• Designing conversational strategies that balance usefulness and cognitive cost
• Handling ambiguity in user interactions
• Analyzing stored information in LLMs

Supervision of Theses

A list of the research topics I am interested in can be found here: Research Topics

If you would like to apply for a Master’s Thesis or Guided Research project, please make sure to mention which specific topic from the list you are interested in.

Note: At the moment, my focus is on advancing the open projects listed above, so I am unable to take on additional or unrelated topics.

When contacting me, please include your CV and relevant background information.