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Taipei, Taiwan: In a remarkable display of expertise and innovation, a team of students from Taipei Medical University's Graduate Institute of Data Science, led by Professor Yung-Chun Chang, emerged triumphant at the 17th NTCIR (NII Testbeds and Community for Information access Research) International Conference on Information Access Evaluation in Japan. Competing against nearly 20 teams from across the globe, the Taiwanese team stood out, bringing home three major awards, thereby elevating the university's prestige and showcasing Taiwan's formidable prowess on the international stage.
(The Taipei Medical University team, under the guidance of Professor Yung-Chun Chang from the Graduate Institute of Data Science, proudly won three awards at NTCIR-17 in Japan. From left to right: Professor Yung-Chun Chang, and second-year master’s students Yong-Zhen Huang, Eugene Sy, Heng-Yu Lin, Tzu-Cheng Peng, and Shih-Hsuan Huang.)
NTCIR, alongside TREC in the USA and CLEF in Europe, forms the trio of leading international information retrieval evaluation conferences, highly esteemed in the academic circles of information retrieval. The 17th edition of this multilingual processing evaluation conference, organized by Japan's National Institute of Informatics, drew participation from Taiwan, Japan, India, and Mainland China, including teams from eminent institutions like Tokyo Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research.
The winning TMU team comprised second-year master's students Eugene Sy, Heng-Yu Lin, Tzu-Cheng Peng, Shih-Hsuan Huang, and Yong-Zhen Huang. Under Professor Chang's guidance, they excelled in the "Argument Unit Identification Task" and the "Argument Relation Detection and Classification Task," securing first and third places respectively. Their journey culminated in an overseas presentation, where they presented their paper "TMUNLP at the NTCIR-17 FinArg-1 Task," based on financial datasets from social media and earnings call records. Their innovative approach in argument identification earned them the Best Presentation Award.
Reflecting on their experience, Heng-Yu Lin shared, "Participating in such a prestigious international conference was a thrilling first for us. It wasn't merely a competition, but a valuable platform for sharing experiences and honing our thinking skills."
The focused attention during their presentation not only signified the profound impact of their research but also reinforced their commitment to making significant academic contributions in the future.
Professor Yung-Chun Chang attributed, “the team's success to their strategic use of key methodologies, combining the strengths of various models derived from extensive experimentation. This innovative approach, coupled with effective handling of data imbalance and the integration of models, sampling strategies, and voting mechanisms, not only won the admiration of the judges but also established a commendable international standing for the Graduate Institute of Data Science and College of Management at Taipei Medical University.”
The students expressed that their experience at the conference significantly enriched their academic knowledge and broadened their international outlook. Engaging with top global scholars provided them with invaluable insights and laid a strong foundation for future academic endeavors. This opportunity has profoundly influenced their research directions and career paths, boosting their confidence to tackle academic challenges and contribute more significantly to the academic community.
(The triumphant team from Taipei Medical University's Graduate Institute of Data Science receiving awards at NTCIR-17. From left to right: Japanese organizing committee representatives, and second-year master’s students Eugene Sy, Heng-Yu Lin, Tzu-Cheng Peng, Shih-Hsuan Huang, Yong-Zhen Huang, with a representative from the organizing committee on the right.)
