Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree and (1) 60 credits in language technology/computational linguistics, or (2) 60 credits in computer science, or (3) 60 credits in a language subject, 7.5 credits in computer programming and 7.5 credits in logic/discrete mathematics. Knowledge of English equivalent to what is required for entry to Swedish first-cycle courses and study programmes.

Learning outcomes

For the grade passed the student, on completion of the course, must be able to

1. describe the role of information retrieval as a field and how it relates to natural language processing and natural language understanding
2. analyze and evaluate existing retrieval systems, and explain the differences between them
3. explain in detail the most common techniques for indexing a document, as well as the classification part, and how to apply these techniques to big data
4. analyze and critically review scientific publications in the field of information retrieval
5. describe and analyze how question answering systems work
6. describe the difference between argument mining and information extraction and being able to analyze current argument mining methods
7. implement a basic system for information retrieval and in detail explain how neural systems for information retrieval work 
8. formulate and critically discuss the methodological assumptions made by the techniques mentioned in the course.

Content

The course provides an overview of information retrieval as an application in computational linguistics, with an emphasis on basic techniques as well as evaluation methods.

Instruction

The teaching consists of lectures and laboratory sessions under supervision.

Assessment

Assessment takes place through oral and written presentation of assignments. Details about the examination are provided at the start of the course.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.