Institute of Artificial Intelligence

Prof. Dr. Birte Glimm

Since July 2011 I work at the University of Ulm within the Institute of Artificial Intelligence. Until June 2017  as a junior professor and since then as full professor. In 2019 our project "Do it yourself, but not alone: Companion-Technology for Home Improvement" was awarded a price for cooperations between science and industry (Kooperationspreis Wissenschaft-Wirtschaft). In 2017 I received a Google Faculty Research Award and I was honoured with the Mileva Einstein-Marić-Prize. 

Before coming to Ulm, I was a research assistant in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, where I worked in the Information Systems Group, mainly on developing algorithms for automated reasoning in expressive Description Logics and on the implementation of the HermiT reasoner.

I did my PhD in Manchester in the Information Management Group under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ian Horrocks and Prof. Dr. Uli Sattler and I was honoured with the Best Thesis Award from the School of Computer Science at Manchester University in 2008. From September 2001 until July 2004 I studied Computer Science in the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and I received my bachelor degree with an award for the best degree.

Before studying Computer Science, I worked for 3.5 years in Industry and did another degree in Communication Design.

Further Information

My scientific interest is mainly in knowledge representation and automatic reasoning. I develop, implement and optimize algorithms for automatic reasoning in expressive description logics and analyze their complexity. For example, I have developed various optimizations for tableau algorithms, novel procedures for combining tableau and saturation-based algorithms and algorithms for answering queries. Our new abstraction and refinement procedure allows conclusions to be drawn about knowledge bases with very large amounts of data. We are also working on providing autonomous vehicles with dynamic knowledge of map data, where a particular challenge lies in the high dynamics. Our research on the generation of explanations in natural language allows the automated derivations to be made comprehensible.

Since 2020 I have been a Research Fellow at fortiss, I am a member of the Steering Committee of the IBM fortiss Center for AI and a co-organizer of the Dagstuhl Perspectives Seminar "Current and Future Challenges in Knowledge Representation and Reasoning" (postponed to July 2022 due to the corona pandemic).

I am an editor of the SPARQL 1.1 Entailment Regimes specification, developed within the SPARQL Working Group of the W3C. Entailment regimes extend SPARQL to work with semantics other than simple entailment, e.g., RDF and RDFS semantics and OWL Direct and RDF-Based Semantics. I am also an editor of the OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Conformance specification, which describes the conditions that OWL 2 tools must satisfy in order to be conformant with the language specification.

  • since 2019 Chair of the Exam Board Computer Science (for BSc+Msc Computer Science, BSc+Msc Media Informatics, BSc+Msc Software Engineering, MSc Artificial Intelligence)
  • since 2019 Chair of the Exam Board Cognitive Systems
  • since 2014 Chair of the Admissions Board Cognitive Systems
  • 2018-2021 Member of the Study Commission Cognitive Systems
  • SoSe 2021 Member of the Study Commission Computer Science
  • 2015-2018 Programme Coordination MSc Cognitive Systems

Projects and seminars in the area of Semantic Web and Artificial Intelligence

Lectures

SS 2021: Programming Concepts for Cognitive Systems, Algorithms for Knowledge Representation

SS 2021: Programming Concepts for Cognitive Systems, Foundations of Semantic Web Technologies

WS 2020/2021: Web Engineering

SS 2020: Programming Concepts for Cognitive Systems

WS 2019/2020: Web Engineering, Foundations of Semantic Web Technologies

SS 2019: Programming Concepts for Cognitive Systems

WS 2018/2019: Web Engineering, Foundations of Semantic Web Technologies

SS 2018: Einführung in die Informatik, Programming Concepts for Cognitive Systems

WS 2017/2018: Web Engineering, Programming Concepts for Cognitive Systems

SS 2017: Foundations of Semantic Web Technologies, Einführung in die Informatik

WS 2016/2017: Introduction to Computer Science for Psychologists, Web Engineering

SS 2016: Foundations of Semantic Web Technologies

WS 2015/2016: Introduction to Computer Science for Psychologists

SS 2015: Foundations of Semantic Web Technologies

WS 2013/2014: Einführung in die Informatik, Semantic Web Grundlagen

SS 2013: Algorithmen in der Wissensrepräsentation

WS 2012/2013: Semantic Web Grundlagen

SS 2012: Algorithmen in der Wissensrepräsentation

WS 2011/2012: Semantic Web Grundlagen

2020 Best Paper Award, Haonan Qiu, Adel Ayara and Birte Glimm, International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Ontology Development
2020 Best Research Track Senior Programme Committee Member, International Semantic Web Conference
2019 Kooperationspreis Wissenschaft-Wirtschaft
2019 Best Reproducibility Award, Andreas Steigmiller and Birte Glimm, International Semantic Web Conference
2019 Best Research Paper Award runner-up, Andreas Steigmiller and Birte Glimm, International Semantic Web Conference
2017 Google Faculty Research Award
2017 Mileva Einstein-Marić-Preis 
2016 Best Resources Paper, B. Parsia, N. Matentzoglu, R. S. Goncalves, B. Glimm and A. Steigmiller, International Semantic Web Conference
2015 OWL Reasoner Evaluation Competition, 6 Tracks (Reasoner Konclude: 4 × 1. and 2 × 2. prize, Reasoner HermiT: 1 × 2. and 4 × 3. prize)
2014 ISWC Best Reviewer Research Track, International Semantic Web Conference
2014 Kurt Gödel medal, 1. FLoC Olympic Games
2014 OWL Reasoner Evaluation Competition, 6 Tracks (Reasoner Konclude: 5 × 1. and 1 × 2. prize, Reasoner HermiT: 1 × 2. and 1 × 3. prize)
2013 OWL Reasoner Evaluation Competition, 9 Tracks (Reasoner Konclude: 3×1., 2×2. and 2 × 3. prize, Reasoner HermiT: 1 × 1., 2 × 2. and 1 × 3. prize)
2011 Best Programme Committee Member Finalist, International Semantic Web Conference
2010 Best Research Paper Nominee, Birte Glimm, Ian Horrocks, Boris Motik and Giorgos Stoilos, International Semantic Web Conference
2008 Steve Furber Medal for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Computer Science
09.04–09.07 Doctoral scholarship of the Foundation of German Business
09.04–09.07 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council studentship
2004 Best computer science degree in 2004 at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
04.02–07.04 Scholarship of the Foundation of German Business

  • Moritz Illich (2021-)
  • Haonan Qiu (submitted 2021, defense pending)
  • Andreas Steigmiller (finished 2016, summa cum laude, dissertation award Thomas Gessmann-Stiftung)
  • Ilianna Kollia (external at the National Technical University of Athens, finished 2014)

Publications

2022

94.
Illich, Moritz; Glimm, Birte
Computing Concept Referring Expressions for Queries on Horn ALC Ontologies
Proceedings of the 31st International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the 23rd European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-ECAI 2022)
Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
2022
File:fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2022/IlGl22a.pdf

2021

93.
Wenzel, Maximilian; Liebig, Thorsten; Glimm, Birte
HDT Bitmap Triple Indices for Efficient RDF Data Exploration
Proceedings of the 18th European Semantic Web Conference (ESWC 2021)fromLecture Notes in Computer Science
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
2021
92.
Qiu, Haonan; Ayara, Adel; Glimm, Birte
Ontology-Based Map Data Quality Assurance
Proceedings of the 18th European Semantic Web Conference (ESWC 2021)fromLecture Notes in Computer Science
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
2021
91.
Steigmiller, Andreas; Glimm, Birte
Parallelised ABox Reasoning and Query Answering with Expressive Description Logics
Proceedings of the 18th European Semantic Web Conference (ESWC 2021)fromLecture Notes in Computer Science
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
2021
90.
Bercher, Pascal; Behnke, Gregor; Kraus, Matthias; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Manstetten, Dietrich; Dambier, Michael; Dorna, Michael; Minker, Wolfgang; Glimm, Birte; Biundo, Susanne
Do It Yourself, but Not Alone: Companion-Technology for Home Improvement – Bringing a Planning-Based Interactive DIY Assistant to Life
Künstliche Intelligenz – Special Issue on NLP and Semantics
2021
Weblink:https://rdcu.be/cmGwb
File:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13218-021-00721-x

2020

89.
Qiu, Haonan; Ayara, Adel; Glimm, Birte
A Knowledge Architecture Layer for Map Data in Autonomous Vehicles
Proceedings of the 23rd IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC 2020)
Publisher: IEEE
2020
File:fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2020/QiAG20a.pdf
88.
Qiu, Haonan; Ayara, Adel; Glimm, Birte
A Knowledge-Spatial Architecture for Processing Dynamic Maps in Automated Driving
, Proceedings of the ISWC 2020 Posters & Demonstrations TrackVolume2721fromCEUR Workshop Proceedings
Publisher: CEUR-WS.org
2020
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2020/QiAG20c.pdf
87.
Behnke, Gregor; Bercher, Pascal; Kraus, Matthias; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Mickeleit, Kristof; Häge, Timo; Dorna, Michael; Dambier, Michael; Minker, Wolfgang; Glimm, Birte; Biundo, Susanne
New Developments for Robert – Assisting Novice Users Even Better in DIY Projects
Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS 2020), Page 343--347
Publisher: AAAI Press
2020
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2020/Behnke2020DIYAssistant.pdf
86.
Qiu, Haonan; Ayara, Adel; Glimm, Birte
Ontology-based Processing of Dynamic Maps in Automated Driving
Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Ontology Development (KEOD 2020)
Publisher: SciTePress
2020
File:fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2020/QiAG20b.pdf
85.
Kraus, Matthias; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Behnke, Gregor; Bercher, Pascal; Dorna, Michael; Dambier, Michael; Glimm, Birte; Biundo, Susanne; Minker, Wolfgang
Was that successful? On Integrating Proactive Meta-Dialogue in a DIY-Assistant System using Multimodal Cues
Proceedings of 22nd ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI 2020)
Publisher: ACM
2020
File:fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2020/KSBB20a.pdf

2019

84.
Suryawanshi, Yogita; Qiu, Haonan; Ayara, Adel; Glimm, Birte
An Ontological Model for Map Data in Automotive Systems
Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Engineering (AIKE 2019), Page 140--147
Publisher: IEEE
2019
File:fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2019/SQAG19a.pdf
83.
Glimm, Birte; Kazakov, Yevgeny
Classical Algorithms for Reasoning and Explanation in Description Logics
In Markus Krötzsch and Daria Stepanova, Editor, Reasoning Web. Explainable Artificial Intelligence - 15th International Summer SchoolVolume11810fromLecture Notes in Computer Science, Page 1-64
In Markus Krötzsch and Daria Stepanova, Editor
Publisher: Springer
2019
DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-31423-1_1
File:fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2019/GliKaz19Classical.pdf
82.
Steigmiller, Andreas; Glimm, Birte
Absorption-Based Query Entailment Checking for Expressive Description Logics
Proceedings of the 32nd International Workshop on Description Logics (DL 2019) Band 2373 aus CEUR Workshop Proceedings
Publisher: CEUR-WS.org
2019
File:pdfhttp://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2373/paper-25.pdf
81.
Behnke, Gregor; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Kraus, Matthias; Bercher, Pascal; Schmautz, Mario; Dorna, Michael; Dambier, Michael; Minker, Wolfgang; Glimm, Birte; Biundo, Susanne
Alice in DIY wonderland or: Instructing novice users on how to use tools in DIY projects
AI Communications, 32 (1) :31-57
2019
Publisher: IOS Press
DOI:10.3233/AIC-180604
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2019/Behnke2019bosch.pdf
80.
Steigmiller, Andreas; Glimm, Birte
Absorption-Based Query Answering for Expressive Description Logics
In Chiara Ghidini, Olaf Hartig, Maria Maleshkova, Vojtěch Svátek,Isabel Cruz, Aidan Hogan, Editor, Proceedings of the 18th International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC 2019) Band 11778 aus Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Page 593--611
In Chiara Ghidini, Olaf Hartig, Maria Maleshkova, Vojtěch Svátek,Isabel Cruz, Aidan Hogan, Editor
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham
2019
ISBN:978-3-030-30793-6
File:fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2019/StGl2019-ABQA-ISWC.pdf
79.
Kraus, Matthias; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Behnke, Gregor; Bercher, Pascal; Biundo, Susanne; Glimm, Birte; Minker, Wolfgang
9th International Workshop on Spoken Dialogue Systems
In Rafael Banchs and Luis Fernando D'Haro and Haizhou Li, Editor from Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering
Chapter A Multimodal Dialogue Framework for Cloud-Based Companion Systems
Publisher: Springer
2019
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2019/Kraus2019CloudCompanion.pdf

2018

78.
Kraus, Matthias; Behnke, Gregor; Bercher, Pascal; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Biundo, Susanne; Glimm, Birte; Minker, Wolfgang
A Multimodal Dialogue Framework for Cloud-Based Companion Systems
Proc. of the 10th International Workshop on Spoken Dialog Systems Technology (IWSDS 2018)
2018
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2018/Kraus2018CompanionCloudDemo.pdf
77.
Perleth, Tanja; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Glimm, Birte
Applying a Model of Text Comprehension to Automated Verbalizations of EL Derivations
Proceedings of DL 2018, CEUR Workshop Proceedings Vol. 2211
2018
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2018/PerlethSchillerGlimmDL2018.pdf
76.
Brenner, Markus; Glimm, Birte
Embracing Change by Abstraction Materialization Maintenance for Large ABoxes
Proceedings of the 27th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the 23rd European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-ECAI 2018)
Publisher: AAAI Press
2018
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2018/BrGl18a.pdf
75.
Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Behnke, Gregor; Bercher, Pascal; Kraus, Matthias; Dorna, Michael; Richter, Felix; Biundo, Susanne; Glimm, Birte; Minker, Wolfgang
Evaluating Knowledge-Based Assistance for DIY
Proceedings of MCI Workshop "Digital Companion", Page 925--930
2018
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2018/MCI-WS19-schillerEtAl2018.pdf
74.
Behnke, Gregor; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Kraus, Matthias; Bercher, Pascal; Schmautz, Mario; Dorna, Michael; Minker, Wolfgang; Glimm, Birte; Biundo, Susanne
Instructing Novice Users on How to Use Tools in DIY Projects
Proceedings of the 27th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the 23rd European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-ECAI 2018), Page 5805--5807
Publisher: IJCAI
2018
DOI:10.24963/ijcai.2018/844
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2018/Behnke2018DIY.pdf

2017

73.
Behnke, Gregor; Nielsen, Florian; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Bercher, Pascal; Kraus, Matthias; Minker, Wolfgang; Biundo, Susanne; Glimm, Birte
SLOTH - the Interactive Workout Planner
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Companion Technology (ICCT 2017)
Publisher: IEEE
2017
DOI:10.1109/COMPANION.2017.8287077
File:pdfhttp://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2017/Behnke2017Sloth.pdf
72.
Behnke, Gregor; Nielsen, Florian; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Ponomaryov, Denis; Bercher, Pascal; Glimm, Birte; Minker, Wolfgang; Biundo, Susanne
To Plan for the User Is to Plan With the User -- Integrating User Interaction Into the Planning Process
In Susanne Biundo and Andreas Wendemuth, Editor from Cognitive Technologies
Chapter 7, Page 123--144
Publisher: Springer
2017
123--144
DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-43665-4_7
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2017/Behnke2017CompBookMIP.pdf
71.
Parsia, Bijan; Matentzoglu, Nicolas; Goncalves, Rafael S.; Glimm, Birte; Steigmiller, Andreas
The OWL Reasoner Evaluation (ORE) 2015 Competition Report
Journal of Automated Reasoning (JAR), 59 (4) :455-482
2017
DOI:10.1007/s10817-017-9406-8
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2017/PMGG17a.pdf
70.
Glimm, Birte; Schiller, Marvin R. G.; Schiller, Florian
Testing the Adequacy of Automated Explanations of EL Subsumptions
, Proceedings of the 30th International Workshop on Description Logics (DL 2017)Volume1879fromCEUR Workshop Proceedings
Publisher: CEUR-WS.org
2017
File:pdfhttps://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.090/Publikationen/2017/ScSG17a.pdf