On September 27th, the MagIC research center hosted its first-ever Data Research Meetup at NOVA IMS, drawing over 100 participants, including students, researchers, and industry professionals. This event turned the NOVA IMS campus into a hub of academic discussion, highlighting the latest research and exploring future trends in data science.

Professor Leonardo Vanneschi, Director of MagIC, set the tone with his opening remarks: “Our goal is to position MagIC as a hub for scientific discussions in data science research, bringing together senior and junior researchers to advance this research field further."

One of the standout moments of the Meet up was an engaging keynote talk by Professor Una-May O’Reilly from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). In her talk titled "Coevolving Adversarial Intelligence in Natural and Artificial Systems," she dived into the complex world of adversarial agents, showcasing how coevolutionary algorithms can simulate and predict adversarial behaviors in natural and digital landscapes. Professor O’Reilly’s insights on adversarial intelligence and its application in fields like cybersecurity and tax fraud detection added a fascinating new dimension to the understanding of these systems.

The morning continued with a roundtable discussion moderated by Professor Roberto Henriques. The panel brought together a diverse lineup of experts, including Professor Cátia Pesquita from Universidade de Lisboa, Professor Mário Gaspar da Silva from ISTécnico, Professor Leonardo Vanneschi from MagIC NOVA IMS, Professor Penousal Machado from Universidade de Coimbra, and Professor Una-May O’Reilly from MIT. The panelists engaged in a dynamic exchange of ideas, each bringing their unique perspectives on the future of data science.

From the challenges of semantic interoperability in AI systems, highlighted by Professor Pesquita, to Professor Machado’s take on computational creativity, the discussion covered a wide range of thought-provoking topics. Professor Gaspar da Silva addressed the gap between data science education and industry expectations, while Professor O’Reilly shared her vision of upcoming breakthroughs in scalable learning systems. Professor Vanneschi discussed the evolving role of genetic programming, emphasizing the need for more adaptable and explainable models to improve our effectiveness in tackling  real-world problems.

The poster sessions featured 17 PhD students from NOVA IMS, each presenting innovative research projects that sparked engaging discussions with both peers and senior researchers. The breadth of topics was impressive, ranging from leveraging neural networks to predict patient outcomes and applying NLP to extract insights from legal texts to using GIS for urban planning optimization and deploying deep learning models to track environmental changes. The sessions were filled with curiosity and knowledge-sharing, creating a truly enriching environment for all attendees.

The afternoon showcased several presentations by MagIC researchers, each highlighting the cutting-edge research conducted at the center. Professor Leonardo Vanneschi shared his team’s latest work on evolutionary computation, focusing on enhancing the efficiency and interpretability of machine learning models. Professor Mauro Castelli presented an innovative AI-driven approach to automating the evaluation of administrative costs in EU legislation. Professor Marco Painho emphasized the transformative potential of geospatial data for addressing critical environmental and societal challenges. Finally, Professor Fernando Bação concluded the session by discussing his research on synthetic data generation, exploring how synthetic datasets can tackle issues related to data scarcity and privacy.

The event wrapped up with a celebratory awards ceremony recognizing research excellence. Professor Fernando Bação was honored with a special award for his outstanding contributions to data science. The Best PhD Poster Award was given to Roshanak Agharafeie for her remarkable work, reflecting the high level of academic excellence and innovation within the NOVA IMS community.

Reflecting on the success of the day, Professor Leonardo Vanneschi remarked, “The high number of participants and the strong engagement from our PhD students were truly encouraging. It’s essential to provide a space where researchers can share their latest findings and establish meaningful collaborations. This meetup was a great step toward opening MagIC to the broader research community in data science and stimulating dynamic interactions within our NOVA IMS community.”

Building on this promising start, the MagIC research center is already planning the next edition, set to take place in 2025. Stay tuned for more details and prepare to join us as we continue developing a dynamic and engaged research community!