Panayiotis Smeros

Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Bern (He/Him)

Hey there! Welcome to this corner of the internet where you learn things about me!

I am Panayiotis, a computer scientist specializing in developing systems with societal impact within collaborative and interdisciplinary environments. I have expertise in applying Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning methods to texts with heterogeneous formality, intent, and writing style, such as social and news media, interview transcripts, and scientific publications.

Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Bern (UniBE) exploring the usage of Large Language Models in Sociology. I obtained my PhD degree from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and my MSc and BSc degrees from the University of Athens (UoA).


Experience

Natural Language Processing Researcher

As a researcher at UniBE, I develop methods for capturing semantic and linguistic forms of meaning in interview transcripts.

  • Expertise
    • Natural Language Inference, Large Language Models
    • Transformers, PyTorch, Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn, SpaCy, Seaborn, Python
  • Projects
    • Modeling Meaning in Text Data for the Social Sciences
Since 2023

Machine Learning Researcher

As a researcher at EPFL, I proposed methods for combating online scientific misinformation, leading to publications at top-tier conferences (CIKM, WWW, and ICWSM). Furthermore, I coordinated master and PhD students and software engineers on the development of a real-time news analytics platform for investigating the media landscape at scale.

2016 - 2022

Semantic Web Researcher

As a researcher at UoA, I developed methods for geospatial and temporal retrieval and link discovery, leading to publications at top-tier conferences (LDOW and AAAI).

  • Expertise
    • Knowledge Graphs, Semantic Inference, Rule Reasoning, Ontology Engineering
    • RDF, OWL, XML, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, MySQL, Java, Scala, C/C++, CUDA, MPI, Prolog
  • Research & Development
    • Silk: Linked Data Integration Framework
    • Strabon: Semantic SpatioTemporal RDF Store
  • Projects
    • LEO: Linked Open Earth Observation Data for Precision Farming
    • MELODIES: Maximising the Exploitation of Linked Open Data In Enterprise and Science
    • TELEIOS: Virtual Observatory Infrastructure for Earth Observation Data
2013 - 2015

Academic Community Member

Since 2013

Selected Publications

[ICWSM'23] M. Gruppi, P. Smeros, S. Adali, C. Castillo, K. Aberer. SciLander: Mapping the Scientific News Landscape. [pdf, bib]

[CIKM'21] P. Smeros, C. Castillo, K. Aberer. SciClops: Detecting and Contextualizing Scientific Claims for Assisting Manual Fact-Checking. [pdf, slides, bib]

[VLDB'20] A. Romanou, P. Smeros, C. Castillo, K. Aberer. SciLens News Platform: A System for Real-Time Evaluation of News Articles. [pdf, bib]

[WWW'19] P. Smeros, C. Castillo, K. Aberer. SciLens: Evaluating the Quality of Scientific News Articles Using Social Media and Scientific Literature Indicators. [pdf, slides, bib]

[AAAI'17] M.A. Sherif, K. Dreßler, P. Smeros, A.-C. Ngonga Ngomo. Radon - Rapid Discovery of Topological Relations. [pdf]

[LDOW'16] P. Smeros, M. Koubarakis. Discovering Spatial and Temporal Links among RDF Data. [pdf, slides]

[ESWC'13] K. Bereta, P. Smeros, M. Koubarakis. Representing and Querying the Valid Time of Triples for Linked Geospatial Data. [pdf]

Here is the full list of my publications, and my DBLP and Google Scholar profiles.

Education

PhD Student

Thesis: Combating Online Scientific Misinformation
2016 - 2022

MSc Student

Thesis: Discovering Spatial and Temporal Links among RDF Data
Supervisor: Manolis Koubarakis
2011 - 2014

BSc Student

Thesis: Storing RDF data and evaluating SPARQL queries using MapReduce
Supervisor: Manolis Koubarakis
2007 - 2011

Honors & Awards

Interview on What Is Fake News?

Scientific Podcast Series Lefteris Asks Science
2021

2-Year Funding for Project SciLens

2019

2-Year Support for Project SciLens

2019

2nd Rank in ML Text Classification

2016

Other Me

  • 5-Year Recurring President of the Greek Student Association of Lausanne
  • Supporter of Independent Journalists, Musicians, Directors, Comedians, and Comics Artists
  • Green Transportation Advocate (Walker & Biker)
  • Blood Donor
  • Body Combat & Body Pump Enthusiast
  • (Winter) Swimmer
  • Part(y)-Time DJ
  • Left-Handed Guitar Player