Tessera

Oleg Zendel

@olegzendel.com

Research Fellow @ ADMS Centre | PhD in Computer Science (RMIT) | Exploring IR & LLMs | Proud furdad to Quan, previously 🦮 in training https://olegzendel.com/

13 Posts75 Follower 152 Folgt

Information Age @information-age.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The AI boom is driving major price hikes for consumer electronics as AI chipmakers take first dibs on critical memory hardware. 📈 Read more, including thoughts from RMIT University's @olegzendel.bsky.social and UNSW's @suekeay.bsky.social: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Why the price of RAM is skyrocketing

Rising costs being 'passed through to customers'.

ia.acs.org.au

ADM+S Centre @admscentre.org.au · 10mo ago

What happens when Google stops sending you to websites & starts answering questions itself? In this podcast episode ADM+S researchers Ashwin Nagappa, Oleg Zendel & Sara Al Lawati discuss what the future of search means for all of us bit.ly/48zWDK9 #GoogleSearch #AIMode

ADM+S Centre @admscentre.org.au · 10mo ago

Researchers from the Australian Search Experience examine a crucial aspect of the information ecosystem: information producers and their reciprocal relationship with search engines Read more http://bit.ly/4n41xme #SEO #GenAI #SearchEngines

Johanne Trippas @jtrippas.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🌟Really excited to share the fourth Strategic Workshop on Information Retrieval (SWIRL) report published in SIGIR Forum! Paper 👉🏻 www.johannetrippas.com/papers/tripp... More info 👉🏻 sites.google.com/view/swirl20... #SWIRL2025 #SIGIR2026 #IR #GenAI #Research #CHIIR2026

ADM+S Centre @admscentre.org.au · last yr.

A team from the ADM+S at RMIT University has taken out first place amongst 70 teams across 27 countries in the LiveRAG Challenge at SIGIR 2025, showcasing world-class innovation in Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technologies admscentre.org/3IBFe8Z

ADM+S team wins global LiveRAG Challenge at SIGIR 2025 - ADM+S Centre

Researchers from ADM+S at RMIT University have taken out first place in the LiveRAG Challenge at SIGIR 2025, showcasing world-class innovation in Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technologies.

admscentre.org

Maik Fröbe @maik-froebe.bsky.social · last yr.

Do not forget to participate in the #TREC2025 Tip-of-the-Tongue (ToT) Track :) The corpus and baselines (with run files) are now available and easily accessible via the ir_datasets API and the HuggingFace Datasets API. More details are available at: trec-tot.github.io/guidelines

Dory from finding nemo with the quote: "I remember it like it was yesterday. Of course, I dont remember yesterday."

arxiv cs.IR @arxiv-cs-ir.bsky.social · last yr.

Kun Ran, Shuoqi Sun, Khoi Nguyen Dinh Anh, Damiano Spina, Oleg Zendel RMIT-ADM+S at the SIGIR 2025 LiveRAG Challenge https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.14516

Oleg Zendel @olegzendel.com · last yr.

Excited to share that my amazing RMIT ADM+S team – @damianospina.com, Kun Ran, @shuoqisun.bsky.social, and Dinh Anh Khoi Nguyen – are global finalists in the #SIGIR #LiveRAG Challenge! I'm incredibly proud of everyone and what we've achieved. What a fantastic journey! 🎉

ADM+S Centre@admscentre.org.au · last yr.

Congratulations to the ADM+S team from RMIT, one of four global finalists in the #SIGIR #LiveRAG Challenge- hosted by the Technology Innovation Institute. The team includes Dr Oleg Zendel, Dr Damiano Spina, Kun Ran, Shuoqi Sun, with colleague Dinh Anh Khoi Nguyen. More: admscentre.org/4l998ze

Oleg Zendel @olegzendel.com · last yr.

My first media interview, a great experience! I really enjoyed the conversation with @jtrippas.bsky.social from @rmitcomputing.bsky.social and Ellen Phiddian from @abcnewsbot.bsky.social. Thanks for the thoughtful discussion and the opportunity to share insights!

ADM+S Centre@admscentre.org.au · last yr.

Are search engines getting worse—or is it time to rethink how we search? ADM+S researchers Oleg Zendel, Ashwin Nagappa & Johanne Trippas share insights on search quality, AI & what it means for how we find trustworthy information online @olegzendel.bsky.social @ashwinnag.bsky.social bit.ly/3F8sx44

ADM+S Centre @admscentre.org.au · last yr.

Is Google search getting worse? Maybe what we want from it has changed

Has the simple search become less useful in a world of low-information, SEO-optimised sites, and often faulty AI summaries? Are there better ways to navigate the web?

bit.ly

Damiano Spina @damianospina.com · last yr.

Proceedings of the 2025 ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval #CHIIR2025 are now available at the ACM DL: dl.acm.org/doi/proceedi...

https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3698204

The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · last yr.

Super funds may be missing a basic safeguard to protect retirement savings.

Hackers have hit major super funds. A cyber expert explains how to stop it happening again

theconversation.com

Oleg Zendel @olegzendel.com · last yr.

William Pietri@williampietri.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · last yr.

In the 15+ years people have been promoting blockchains, this flowchart remains undefeated.

Projector screen showing a flowchart with two boxes connected by an arrow. The top one says, "Do I need a Blockchain?" The bottom one says, "No."

Ingo Frommholz @frommholz.org · last yr.

IRRJ, the Information Retrieval Research Journal, is the new player in the information retrieval publication landscape. The first issue has recently been published. Have a look at irrj.org/index, and don't forget to follow @IRRJ.sigmoid.social.ap.brid.gy!

Information Retrieval Research

irrj.org

Oleg Zendel @olegzendel.com · last yr.

Fantastic keynote by Kathy Brennan at #CHIIR2025! Insightful points on UI design at Google moving beyond the 'average user' to truly personalize experiences. Thought-provoking and inspiring

Damiano Spina @damianospina.com · last yr.

Our @theconversation.com article discussing 4 ethical models of search engines is out! theconversation.com/what-makes-a... @admscentre.org.au @rmitcomputing.bsky.social @umbrellacorpn.bsky.social

What makes a good search engine? These 4 models can help you use search in the age of AI

To make sure search engines serve us well, it’s helpful to imagine these tools having different roles – whether it’s a “librarian” or a “teacher”.

theconversation.com

Oleg Zendel @olegzendel.com · last yr.

@rankun203.bsky.social is presenting his Master's work at #CHIIR2025 in Melbourne. Exploring LLMs to improve query reformulation, showing promising results especially for poor queries. Contrary to prior studies of PRF query expansion, which works mostly for effective queries. Questions time 😄

Daniel Angus @antmandan.bsky.social · last yr.

There's something quasi-religious about the way some critics of AI declare their total abstinence from it, like a badge of moral purity. You can bet many of the same voices drive cars, eat factory-farmed meat, and otherwise engage with systems that have deep ethical and environmental costs.

ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · last yr.

ARC has “paused” future rounds of grant schemes pending outcomes of its NCGP Policy Review. All schemes previously scheduled to open before 1 July this year will go ahead. But next year’s Laureates, Industry Fellowships & Discovery Indigenous won’t. See table👇 & www.arc.gov.au/funding-rese...

Black text on white background. Screenshot from ARC’s Grants Calendar webpage showing which schemes will go ahead next year (upper bullet points), and which will be “paused” pending the outcomes of the review of the National Competitive Grants Program (lower bullet points). Source: https://www.arc.gov.au/funding-research/ARC_grants-calendar

ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · last yr.

Here’s a report by John Ross in @timeshighered.bsky.social on ARC Board’s proposal to change grant schemes ▶️ www.timeshighereducation.com/news/arc-gra... [Free login required] Both @scienceau.bsky.social's & I am worried about opportunities & unintended consequences for early-career researchers👇

Excerpt from the article. Black text on white background with a few links in blue text. Excerpt as follows:
“Under the ARC board’s proposals, most stand-alone fellowships would be replaced by “embedded fellowships” funded through other grant schemes and capped at two years. “Traditional four-year fellowships concentrate a significant amount of funds on a small number of individual researchers,” a discussion paper explains.
Observers fear this could inadvertently deny many ECRs a toehold in academia because current fellowship schemes such as the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (Decra) and the mid-career Future Fellowships are available to researchers without positions at universities.
This could change under the proposals. The discussion paper implies that recipients of embedded fellowships must already be in “the university workforce” – suggesting that ECRs must obtain employment in the sector before gaining eligibility for ARC grants.
That is an “unrealistic” expectation, according to Sharath Sriram, president of Science and Technology Australia. “The assumption is all those who apply are already…in academic roles. That might have been true in the 1990s. It’s not the case anymore.
“There’s no stability of employment for people until they are six, seven years out of their PhDs. Universities often use success in grants and fellowships to determine who to employ.”
A researcher who monitors grant schemes, using the social media handle “ARC Tracker”, was unconvinced that the proposals would improve opportunities for ECRs.
They said changes to fellowship schemes needed to avoid closing “pathways” for young researchers and leaving them “overshadowed by the established group leaders”.
ARC Board chair Peter Shergold acknowledged the fellowship changes as one of the “stings in the tail” of his proposals, but said a primary goal of his reforms was “contributing to the development of the next generation of researchers”.

Oleg Zendel @olegzendel.com · last yr.

An interesting 🧵 worth having a look at

Vicki@vickiboykis.com · last yr.

If you need a break from SEO, LLMs, and the general emptiness of the modern internet, go here and browse for a bit marginalia-search.com/explore

Oleg Zendel @olegzendel.com · last yr.

Soaking up (possibly) the last bit of summer this weekend - while wrapping up my reviews!

ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · last yr.

ALL RESEARCHERS ❗️Speak up❗️ if you have opinions, critique or ideas on proposed changes to Australian Research Council grants. Discuss & distill ideas, sure, but to be considered you MUST make a submission ▶️ submit.dese.gov.au/jfe/form/SV_... It’s EASY! Answer these questions in the form👇

Screenshot from the ARC Board’s Discussion Paper on the Policy Review of the National Competitive Grants Program (page 33) listing the questions the standard submission form asks you to address. Black text on white background with a heading “Having your say” on dark blue background at the top.

Captain it’s Wednesday @wednesday.bsky.social · last yr.

Captain it's Wednesday

ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · last yr.

The ARC Board has proposed a major shake-up of the National Competitive Grants Program ▶️ www.arc.gov.au/engage-us/co... I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇 Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!

Table from page 25 of the proposed restructure of ARC grants. Back text on white background, with the table delineated by a dark blue header row and alternating light and very light blue rows.

Damiano Spina @damianospina.com · last yr.

The list of accepted papers, workshops, and tutorials for #CHIIR2025 are now online! chiir2025.github.io/schedule.html

ACM CHIIR 2025

chiir2025.github.io

Auschwitz Memorial @auschwitzmemorial.bsky.social · 2y ago

Auschwitz was at the end of a long process. It did not start from gas chambers. This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder. Auschwitz took time.

A bird's-eye view of a former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp showing a wide dirt pathway flanked by parallel rows of barbed-wire fences. Groups of visitors walk along the path, surrounded by the remnants of brick structures and barracks, now reduced to foundations. Green grass contrasts with the somber history of the site, as the path leads toward a guard tower in the distance.

Tom Aarsen @tomaarsen.com · 2y ago

That didn't take long! Nomic AI has finetuned the new ModernBERT-base encoder model into a strong embedding model for search, classification, clustering and more! Details in 🧵

Damiano Spina @damianospina.com · 2y ago

Hohoho! 🎅🏼🎄 Our book chapter “Adapting Generative Information Retrieval Systems to Users, Tasks, and Scenarios” is now online! w/ @jtrippas.bsky.social @umbrellacorpn.bsky.social @rmitcomputing.bsky.social @admscentre.org.au #GenIR #GenAI link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Adapting Generative Information Retrieval Systems to Users, Tasks, and Scenarios

Generative Information Retrieval (GenIR) signifies an advancement in Information Retrieval (IR). GenIR encourages more sophisticated, conversational responses to search queries by integrating generati...

link.springer.com

Johanne Trippas @jtrippas.bsky.social · 2y ago

New year, new insights! 🎉 Our book chapter "Adapting Generative Information Retrieval Systems to Users, Tasks, and Scenarios" is now online! w/ @jtrippas.bsky.social @damianospina.com @umbrellacorpn.bsky.social @rmitcomputing.bsky.social #GenIR #GenAI #SIGIR link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Adapting Generative Information Retrieval Systems to Users, Tasks, and Scenarios

link.springer.com