Departmental Seminar – “Generative information retrieval: from search to recommendation” by Professor Zhaochun Ren, Leiden University, Netherlands
| Dates: | 25 March 2026 |
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| Times: | 13:00 - 14:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Department of Computer Science |
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| How much: | Free |
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| Who is it for: | University staff |
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| Speaker: | Professor Zhaochun Ren |
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Generative retrieval is reshaping search and recommendation by embedding corpus knowledge directly within generative models. This emerging framework moves beyond traditional indexing, mapping queries and user contexts directly to document or item identifiers. In this talk, I will provide an in-depth overview of generative retrieval, highlighting key advancements such as document identifier designs that integrate auto-encoding with search and recommendation. These methods bridge the gap between search and recommendation by leveraging semantic representations that capture both content-based and collaborative signals. Building on recent studies, I will outline the core concepts, methodological innovations, and practical applications driving this field, and conclude by discussing open challenges and promising directions for future research.
Speaker
Professor Zhaochun Ren
Role: Associate Professor
Organisation: Leiden University, the Netherlands
Biography: Zhaochun Ren is an Associate Professor at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He is interested in information retrieval and natural language processing, with an emphasis on generative information retrieval and recommender systems. He aims to develop intelligent agents that can address complex user requests and solve core challenges in NLP and IR towards that goal. His research has been recognized with multiple awards at RecSys, SIGIR, WSDM, EMNLP, and CIKM. Prior to joining Leiden, he was a Professor at Shandong University and a Research Scientist at JD.com.
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Kilburn_TH 1.3
Kilburn Building
Manchester
